Wildcard
by BobBQ
Summary: Hanako wanted a reliable roommate. Karen wanted to find her destined partner. One doesn't always get what one wants. As the Sekirei Plan spirals out of control, an unlikely band of pawns and players must risk all for love, loyalty, and a better tomorrow... "You winged another one, didn't you?"
1. The End of the Beginning

**Author's note: **After two years of working almost exclusively with a gritty radioactive post-Soviet setting, I've realized I'm in dire need of a change of scenery. You can thank (or blame) In a Quandary's _The Sleeping Schedule_ for motivating me to catch up on this series and dust off some old ideas. The new story differs a bit from my usual style in that it diverts the original canon, instead of running parallel or subsequent to it, and doesn't rely on all the protagonists being ace gunslingers.

As this is a side project, updates may be sluggish unless there's a massive outpouring of reader interest. The plot is fairly straightforward by my standards, however, so there's a better than average chance I'll actually finish it. To start us off, here's a cold opening in which very little is properly explained – enjoy!

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><p><em>Wildcard<em>

_Act 0: The End of the Beginning_

They were coming in force this time.

Homura counted five sekirei bounding across the rooftops and two more at street level. Briefly she worried the plan might be compromised, but the incursion's vanguard blew past her concealed vantage point without slowing. Uzume in her veiled guise led the pack, flanked by a pair Homura remembered from the night of her own traumatic winging – Oriha and Katsuragi. The couple in back were new to these parts: Sai and Shi, if the sentry was matching the right names to the faces she'd studied in Matsu's training sessions.

She didn't immediately recognize the pair on the street. One had blond hair done up in a knot and wore a sleeved gymnast's leotard. The other was a curly brunette in a garishly colored schoolgirl's uniform. Each was accompanied by a nervous looking young man, suggesting they were from Higa's collection of vassals. Perhaps Homura's own ashikabi had been correct in predicting their opponent might rely more on his reserves of cannon fodder after the outcome of their last engagement. No matter, if these were all the rich bastard – her ashikabi's words – had sent.

The roof-jumpers descended. Higa's sekirei split off to either side, moving to block the ends of the street. Uzume stood still, only moving once the vassals caught up with her. She headed directly to the front gate, no doubt intent on ending this as fast as she could. Homura quickly checked the placement of the enemy blocking detachments – her ashikabi's words again – and the positions of friendly forces. So far, so good.

Uzume was five paces from the gate to Izumo House when a figure stepped out of it. The rogue sekirei and her escorts halted at once. If they feared it was the one person they absolutely could not afford to meet here and now, they feared in vain: Asama Miya would never be seen wearing a windbreaker, and the hair under the lip of the army helmet was jet black in color.

"Hanako." Homura couldn't see Uzume's face clearly from this angle, but she picked up the renegade's wary voice clear enough. "Did Sahashi-chan send you out to speak for him?"

"Ah, no." Under other circumstances, the fire sekirei might laugh at the identical expressions the vassals adopted when they heard the gatekeeper's accent. "Minato-kun went away on an errand. The landlady's gone too, but you knew that."

"Yeah..." Uzume glanced about, though she gave no sign of noticing Homura or the others. "I guess you know why I'm here, huh?"

Hanako nodded. "You can forget about the jinki-thingy. It's been removed."

"I can't just take your word for it. You understand, right?" Uzume started to advance again. "So please, move aside."

"Nuh-uh." The woman in the helmet wagged a finger. "Violence is forbidden in Izumo House, after all." With her other hand, she took a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her jacket. "We were hoping you wouldn't get here before Minato-kun came back, but he left a message just in case."

As she came forward to hand it over, there was a yell from the far end of the street. "Aaah!" shouted Sai. "I know who that is! It's the sansei ashikabi that Hi – that Master's angry at! Take her out, Number Ten!"

Homura had to roll her eyes at the enemy's carelessness. If they didn't already know it, Sai would have just confirmed who was behind this raid. The outburst drew alarm from the loudmouth's companion as well. "Sacchan, we mustn't do that," Shi protested. "Attacking directly is – "

"Shut it!" The irate one turned her attention to the vassals instead. "You two, kill her! Even if she only has a couple of weak sekirei, she's an ally of the Ashikabi of the North!"

The subordinate fighters were timid, pitiful things, and their reluctance to strike was plain. Uzume stopped them with a raised arm. "Don't move," she ordered, never taking her eyes off Hanako. "You... Is this some kind of joke?"

"Nope, no joke." The gatekeeper made a show of rummaging in her trouser pockets. "Got a light?"

Homura tensed.

"I thought you hated smoking."

"Ah, well... Being an ashikabi is stressful, you know? I'm picking up all kinds of bad habits."

_Being a sekirei is stressful too,_ thought Homura. _You've done your part, now get out of there!_

The incongruous banter only made Sai angrier. "You cowards! If you won't do as Master says – "

Then the opening salvo began. A sake bottle, plugged with a burning rag, arced over the roof of Izumo House and plummeted into the space between the buildings. It struck in front of Oriha and Katsuragi, covering the street in globs of gasoline mixed with dish soap. Ravenous flame and choking smoke sprang up at once, cutting the duo off from the rest of their party. Sai lunged toward the gate, narrowly outrunning a direct hit from the second incoming bottle.

"Tch..!" Homura drew back her hand, a ball of her own fire appearing at the unspoken summons, but Uzume moved even faster than she. The bolts of cloth surrounding the veiled sekirei darted sideways, intercepting Sai's blades.

"Ah," said Katsuragi. "Number Six is up there."

Homura bared her teeth and flung the ball at the nearest sekirei. Katsuragi jumped away, landing with one palm on the pavement. Against a ranged opponent on high ground, the jumpsuit-clad contact distance fighter was at a disadvantage. Unfortunately for her partner, Homura hadn't forgotten Oriha's weakness: "Snake fire!"

"Yeeeeeeeek!" Oriha backpedaled, flailing the bladed discs she had been poised to launch. "Not this agaaaaaain!"

Up the street, Shi was also panicking. "Sacchan? I can't see through the smoke, are you all right? Should I come in?"

As Oriha fled in disarray, Katsuragi straightened. "You can't beat me," warned Homura, readying another fireball.

"I know." It seemed the quiet girl was resigned to her fate. "But it's Master's order, so... Number Eighty-Six, Katsuragi, is your opponent."

_As you wish._ Homura threw to the left, driving Katsuragi closer to the smoke cloud. Just before the fighter touched the ground again, the fire sekirei heard the _thwap_ of a recurve bow at her back. Katsuragi froze, staring at the carbon fiber shaft lodged in the pavement between her knees.

A new voice rang out from the roof of Izumo House, clear and precise. "That is my only warning to you. Number Thirty-Six, Karen, will not permit those of evil intent to trespass here."

Amidst the confusion, Homura hazarded a brief look in the direction of the archer's ashikabi. She was standing in front of the gate as before, hands on hips, watching Uzume finish rolling up Sai in her weaponized fabric. The vassal pairs had wisely retreated to the far side of the street. In the background, Shi barely had time for one final cry before she was removed from a fight she never got a chance to take part in.

Katsuragi still hadn't moved. It was not readily apparent whether she was trying to think of a maneuver that wouldn't end with an arrow through her heart, or waiting for teammates to take the heat off her. Homura dropped to street level, intent on preventing the latter. Exploiting Oriha's fear of snakes wouldn't work after the initial shock wore off: now it was dancing time, as a certain ashikabi liked to say. The flame wielder cast out a barrage of small charges, forcing her target to dodge and denying any openings to retaliate. Oriha tried to slip one of her weapons through the hail, but Homura deflected it with a concerted attack.

"Aiyah," exclaimed Hanako dramatically. "Landlady-sama, when did you get back?"

With those words, the skirmish was over. Katsuragi bolted, not waiting to find out whether it was a bluff, and Oriha vacillated for a fleeting instant before following the brawler's example. Homura let them go, torn between relief at retaining the upper hand and resentment at leaving her personal business unfinished.

The cold hiss of a fire extinguisher made her put those thoughts aside. "That should do it," said Hanako, spraying a little more onto the smoldering residue. "Watch the glass."

Homura leaped over the remains of the incendiary bottle, alighting at the human's side. "I could have ended it," she complained. "I only needed a little longer."

"You could have," agreed the gatekeeper, "but then there wouldn't be anyone left to run home and tell Higa how he lost so many _assets."_

While the fire sekirei understood the woman's motives, letting such information reach their enemy might be reckless given recent events. This wasn't the moment to argue, however. "I'll put out the other one," she offered, holding out her hands.

"Ah, sure. Go ahead."

As suspected, the announcement of Miya's return was a ruse. Uzume had meanwhile terminated Sai without fanfare and corralled her erstwhile escorts, the cannon fodder. So far as Homura could see, Izumo House remained undamaged. Now she did her part to keep it that way, holding the extinguisher nozzle low to the ground as she smothered the roots of the second dark cloud beneath a stream of yellow powder.

The fire died quickly, and with it some of the unease inside her was lifted. She was learning to hate this weapon as much as the gatekeeper advocated for it – a stinking, impure flame, born of foul chemicals and human machination, consuming whatever it touched without respect for the will of a being such as herself.

An unnatural draft cleared away the lingering smoke. "So many wretched children are coming to us lately," Kazehana sighed, gathering Shi's limp form in her arms. "A sour wind blows from the east."

"Ain't that the truth." Hanako zeroed on the captured ashikabi. "Lessee... Baseball cap and a nose ring, 'Born to Thrill' tattoo on the back of the right hand – Nanao and Okajima, right?" She folded her arms. "What did the rich bastard offer you for this job? Protection, a way out of the game? Don't say it was money."

"He said he could get us out," Okajima blurted, choosing to spill his guts rather than have them spilled for him. "He told us the Ashikabi of the North was going to start exterminating everyone else..."

"And you fell for it." The gatekeeper shook her head. "Whatever... You want out? Fine. There's the road. Leave the girls and get lost."

It appeared Okajima had a problem with that last part, even if the prospect of trying to fight his way past a pair of single-digits obviously terrified him. Not so for Nanao, who gave his gymnast a push that sent her stumbling forwards. The sekirei's whimpering and pleading looks met only stony silence: Nanao kept his face turned down, hiding his eyes behind the bill of his cap.

Homura wanted to reach out and reduce the man to ash on the spot. Her comrades were almost certainly entertaining similar ideas after seeing the cornered ashikabi jettison his partner in the most callous way imaginable. Pushing through to the center of the gathering, she pressed her hand against the girl's back. "These are the flames of my pledge, burn the karma of my ashikabi."

The gymnast shivered and sank to the ground. All eyes turned to Okajima. "Why?" he pleaded. "Akagi-chan is all I have. Why do I have to give her up?"

"Because you're shark bait," said Hanako flatly. "If you keep her, you're still in the game. If you're still in the game, you're on your own." She made a sweeping motion towards the right end of the street. "Well, if you want to take that chance, I won't stop you."

Okajima goggled at her. "What? But you just said – "

"If you want to get out of the Sekirei Plan, you have to give up your sekirei. That's MBI's rule, not mine... Personally I'd rather terminate your participation anyway, on grounds of being a security risk, but the Ashikabi of the North has a soft spot for hard luck cases and I have to respect that." Again Hanako placed her hands on her hips. "So be sure to say something nice if anyone asks about him."

"I will... I will! I'll tell everyone!" The promise given, Okajima grabbed Akagi's hand and ran, never looking back.

Nanao had somehow missed his cue to quietly slink away. "What are you still doing here?" the gatekeeper snapped. "Go. Scram. Fucking _vanish."_

And he did. "We're not going to punish him?" asked Kazehana, watching the coward's back recede.

"Not worth making a mess." Hanako pulled out her smartphone. "Eight minutes and forty-one seconds since they tripped the early warning system," she noted clinically. "That's a wrap. Well done, all of you."

The dominant feeling among the sekirei around her was more one of awkward relief than joy. Kazehana took it upon herself to dispel the tension. "Welcome home, Uzume."

"Yeah..." The veiled girl broke into a sheepish grin. "I'm home."

Homura was going to add her own sentiments when she heard a clatter from above and an apocalyptic vision of dislodged tiles falling from the roof flashed before her eyes. "Hana-nee!" a boisterous voice called. "Did I do good?"

"You were great, Nambu. Karen, you too." Hanako's voice dropped to a mutter as she dialed a call. "Only a couple of weak sekirei, my overqualified ass... Minato-kun, where are you? All right, hold on." She pulled the phone away from her head momentarily. "They're already at MBI, no losses. Hidaka-san was just taken into intensive care... Minato-kun, is your mom there? Could I talk to her real quick? Thanks... Takami-kun? Any news on you-know-what?" The ashikabi's face hardened. "I see... No, I'll speak with Matsu when she gets back. Thanks anyway... Yeah, we'll manage. I'm going to hand the phone over to Uzume now, okay? Need to clean up some broken glass before the landlady comes home."

As soon as the device was out of her hand, she made a beeline for the house's entrance. Homura followed instinctively, dropping the fire extinguisher by the gate as she passed. Then Nambu's compact frame landed on the path in front of them. "We're gonna have a party," the tawny fighter gushed, "since we got Uzu-nee back, right?"

Hanako smiled for what might be the first time all day. "I think we earned that much."

"Yahoo!" Nambu held up her right hand, wrapped in the cords of her throwing sling. "Sisfist!"

The gatekeeper bumped knuckles, but her look of happiness waned. "Red and Blue are coming to pick up the fallen. Could you get the cookies from yesterday's batch and put them in a bag for me?"

"You're giving them all to Planks and Stabby?" Nambu pouted. "You'll make more, right?"

"Of course I'll make more. Go on, now."

The tomboy scurried ahead as they went inside, and Homura found the ensuing silence oppressive. "Bribing the Disciplinary Squad with sweets," she remarked, trying to force some levity into the atmosphere. "Whether that's insane or brilliant, I don't know."

"Brilliant." All of Hanako's humor was gone. "Say it's brilliant. I think you and I might be the only sane ones left here."

So much for levity. "I take it Takami-san gave you bad news."

"Probably bad. As far as MBI knows, it wasn't Higa who torched my apartment and killed those other ashikabi."

"Not Higa? But we already ruled out Mikogami and Sanada."

"Exactly." Hanako took off the helmet, shaking out the remnants of what were once flowing locks. "So we're back to square one on that front... What am I looking for?"

"Dustpans and buckets?"

"Yeah, those." She stopped in the middle of the hallway, so abrupt that Homura nearly walked into her back. "Would it be better if I moved out?"

The non sequitur left Homura fumbling for context. "You've only just moved in."

"Don't pretend you're fine with this. I know you don't like sharing your room, and I know Nambu drives you up the wall. I can pitch a tent in the back of the Toyota and park somewhere different every night – "

Now the fire sekirei understood where this was going. "No," she said firmly, trying not to sound hypocritical in light of the caper they'd just pulled off. "I can't let you put yourself in danger."

"I'm touched, I really am." Hanako turned around. "But as your _unwanted_ ashikabi, I think you should stop worrying about me and spend more time with Minato."

"Is that an order?"

"It's a request."

No amount of host club charm could dissuade her when she was like this. Even so, it wasn't wise to leave such feelings pent up where they might poison the celebratory mood later. "I didn't realize our situation was bothering you so much."

"Got to keep the morale up... I know, I know, I should be happy right now. I just don't know what to be happy about."

Such was the root of the problem. To the sekirei and Minato, what they'd accomplished today was an unequivocal double victory. To Hanako, it was merely buying time ahead of the next nerve-wracking sortie. Homura reached for a cigarette, remembering too late that she didn't smoke anymore. Instead her fingers started to play with the unfastened top buttons of her shirt as she weighed her next words. "Everyone is coming back safely," she pointed out. "Isn't that something to be glad for?"

"It's something." Hanako shrugged, as though shedding her malaise with a physical motion. "All right, you win. What the hell, I could use a night off." She began to walk once more, throwing a glance back over her shoulder. "But I do want you to consider my request seriously."

Homura arched an eyebrow. "If Tsukiumi finds out you told her rival to cheat on you with her lawful husband – "

"She'll blast me through the wall and never let me sit at the same table again," Hanako deadpanned. "Oh, and don't let me forget to ask Uzume about the quality of Higa's information. I thought by now he'd know who winged you."

"Mmf." The one who had been winged felt a sudden compulsion to shift the subject matter away from herself. "What happens next?"

"If we're lucky, Minaka won't start the next match right away and today's encounter will force Higa to keep his head down for a while... Is this the right cabinet? Nope... Assuming Minato is okay with it, I want Matsu to investigate the apartment fire and the suspicious deaths again. There's got to be a clue we've missed... We really need to do something about the Ashikabi of the North's bad PR as well. At this point Higa could say Minato reenacted the Potemkin Stairs massacre and people would believe – son of a _bitch!_ Why didn't I think of that sooner!?"

"Think of... what?"

"Potemkin! That's it!" Hanako balled up a fist and slammed it into an open palm. "That's how we'll counterattack!"

"You've lost me," Homura groaned. "Is this good or bad?"

"It's... No, I'll wait until everyone is here." Finally the gatekeeper found what she'd come for. "Here we go. One for you and one for me."

The sekirei of fire accepted the dustpan, falling in as Hanako reversed course. For some reason she found her thoughts gravitating back to the question of her ashikabi's residency. "I suppose it's my own fault we ended up like this," she mused aloud. "My punishment for rejecting Sahashi when I reacted to him."

"It's nobody's fault but mine." Hanako's conviction was absolute. "Remember my promise and be strong."


	2. Headfirst into Danger

**Author's note:** I went ahead and bumped up the story's rating, more for future content than for the brief nudity in this chapter.

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><p><em>Act 1: Headfirst into Danger<em>

Karen's day was not going well.

She had set out in the morning, as she usually did when the weather was good, to explore the city and meet her fated partner. As with her past excursions, success in the former task was equaled only by failure in the latter. When noon arrived, she found a comfortable vantage point on a quiet rooftop and stopped to evaluate her lack of progress.

With so many people in this metropolis, how could finding a suitable individual be so hard? Other sekirei were getting their wings all around her and yet she'd never once felt the anticipated reaction, no matter how much she searched high and low. It wouldn't be long before the unwinged became a vanishing minority, and she feared that being one of the last would leave her at a disadvantage against the early starters who had gotten extra time to accrue experience.

She was considering her next move when the twins showed up.

Karen's protestations of disinterest in battling them earned merely condescension and scorn, and with scant warning she was forced to give up reflecting on her life in order to preserve it. Two problems were soon made clear to her. First: the opponents' costumes, while inappropriate within the norms of human society, offered superior mobility compared to her own clothes. Second: faced with their tandem lightning attacks, gaining enough space to ready and aim her bow was nearly impossible.

Fight turned to flight, Karen struggling to retain her narrow lead as she and the twins sprang from roof to roof. Streets flashed by, filled with bystanders unaware of the furious pursuit unfolding over their heads. The archer zigzagged north, making for a part of the city she had already scouted. It was less populated, and the plan of escape coalescing in her mind required her to find an empty area without delay.

Just like she hoped, the crowds thinned out as her route took her over backstreets and alleys. A few jumps more and then Karen made her bid to break off the chase. The sekirei leaped, landed, jinked sharply to the right and dropped, ping-ponging off a fire escape on the way down. She hit the ground running, turboed to the intersection ahead, and swung a hard left at the corner.

It might have worked if there hadn't been a person coming the other way.

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><p>Hanako had never believed in such things as fate or destiny, but lately it felt as if some power out there was screwing with her.<p>

Today that feeling was especially strong: she'd gotten out of bed with the dark cloud of the 'Miki crisis' looming over her head, and then a speeding delivery truck nearly ran her down at a crossing. Wits frazzled by the brush with death, she went on to flub both of her morning job interviews. In a final frustration, the place she planned to buy lunch from turned out to be unexpectedly closed.

So it was that she found herself plodding home on an empty stomach, with time to kill and no good way to let off steam. Just when a punching bag was beginning to seem like a solid investment, she heard the clang of a heavy impact against something metal not far away. That sounded like trouble, and trouble meant somebody might require assistance. She picked up her pace as she came to the corner of the next crossroads, looking around to see whether anyone else had noticed the disturbance.

The whole thing might not have happened if she'd paid more attention to where she was going.

A figure whipped around the corner, charging straight at Hanako. The first jolt of alarm was still making its way along her synapses as the stranger, reacting in a heartbeat, tried to change course. It was already too late. Hanako felt a hard blow to the left side of her face and upper body, simultaneous with a jabbing pain inside her mouth. The off-center strike caused her to twist as she fell backwards. She landed on her side, air rushing out of her lungs as the sidewalk put a sudden end to her descent.

As she lay there, trying to get her wind back, her vision cleared enough to get a look at the person who knocked her down. The girl was on her hands and knees – one hand, rather, since the other was protectively clutching a bow across her chest. The first thing that stood out to Hanako was her style of dress: a traditional archer's uniform, comprising a short-sleeved white top and baggy red pants, accessorized with a leather breast guard, a loaded quiver, and a glove and forearm protector. The bow was of modern multi-piece construction, however, and its owner appeared to be wearing sneakers.

The stranger's head turned towards Hanako, allowing the toppled woman to focus on her face. In contrast to her Japanese costume, the other half of the ballistic encounter had European features. Icy eyes under thin, sharply defined brows gave a serious impression, and something about the shape of the nose and cheeks called to mind images of a bird of prey. Her chocolate hair was drawn into a ponytail high off the back of the neck, leaving the short bangs free.

Just now she was probing the inside of her mouth, assessing whatever damage the collision had done to her. Hanako was on the verge, purely pro forma, of asking whether she was all right when the tip of the girl's tongue pushed out between her lips. The archer stiffened, making a noise like a strangled gasp, and spectral wings erupted from her back.

The incorporeal shapes were not actually wings, Hanako realized after a moment of total confusion, but more like silhouettes of long white feathers arranged to suggest the shape of wings. It was a spectacle at once beautiful and bizarre, and it captivated her wholly until the light subsided. Only then did she push herself into a sitting position, intending to demand precisely what the hell just happened. The words died in her throat as she saw they were no longer alone.

The pair standing at the corner were identical twins, for some reason differing solely in bust size. They had long black hair, cut in a deliberately jagged style, and wore what Hanako could only describe as bondage outfits, one in deep violet and one in a warmer magenta shade. Looking from them to the archer girl and back again, she put two and two together and acted on the obvious conclusion.

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><p>Karen's thoughts were a maelstrom, whirling around a single indisputable fact: she had been winged by a total stranger. The training to prepare her for this cherished meeting was all for nothing, her dreams dashed faster than the blink of an eye.<p>

The ashikabi – now _her_ ashikabi – was a tall, dark-eyed woman in a gray suit and tie. As she got up, tangled hair failing about her shoulders, the sekirei saw blood at the corner of her mouth. She didn't seem to be aware of the injury, though, and her attention was fixed on something behind Karen. Following the line of her gaze, the archer discovered her relentless enemies had caught up at last.

Their sadistic glee turned to consternation. "Did we cause that?" wondered the violet one.

Her less endowed sister nodded, taking on a weary expression. "We totally caused that."

"Dammit..." The violent violet gritted her teeth. "Why does it turn out this way even when _that guy_ doesn't show up?"

The twins had declared at the outset that they were only interested in fighting unwinged sekirei, which theoretically meant Karen was safe now. The ashikabi had other ideas: "Can you walk?" she asked in a hard, alien voice, sidestepping so that she was between hunter and hunted.

"I... yes." Karen scrambled to her feet, inwardly cursing herself for letting her guard down.

"Get out of here and go to the police."

The archer's eyes widened in horror. This person didn't understand the situation at all! "No... No, you – "

_"Go."_ The ashikabi pulled back the right side of her coat, exposing a large flashlight which hung from a loop on her belt. Its metal body was wrapped in bands of friction tape below the head. Drawing the light from its carrying place, she gripped it by the taped part as if wielding a club. "You'll be in the way."

The twins stared at her, dumbfounded. "Are you an idiot?" sputtered Violet. "Fighting us with something like that, you'll definitely die!"

Karen agreed. Going forward, she grasped her newfound ally's sleeve before the woman could give a retort. "She is right," the sekirei pleaded. "This is – "

Again the interrupter was herself interrupted: a fifth party joined the confrontation, dropping onto the sidewalk from the roof above. "I can't take my eyes off you for a minute," he complained, his tone soft but laced with irritation. "Don't you ever stop bothering people?"

That slender figure, ashen-haired and dressed all in black, was unknown to Karen. Her chasers, conversely, regarded him with familiar dislike. "You're one to talk, Homura," snapped the violet twin. "Always following us around, interfering in our fights!"

"Don't act like you're the victims here," the man retorted. He raised a gloved hand and a dancing flame appeared in his palm. "If you're bored, I'll play with you."

The magenta twin lifted her own hands in placation. "It doesn't matter," she told him. "That one got her wings, so we're leaving. Right, Hikari?"

"Rrrrrgh..."

The interloper glanced toward Karen, revealing that the lower half of his face was masked. "That's your ashikabi?"

"Yes." What else was there to say?

"Take her away from here. I'll deal with these two."

Magenta glowered at him. "I told you, we were about to leave anyway..."

Taking the granted opportunity, Karen hurriedly pulled her companion in the opposite direction.

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><p>Hanako went with the flow for as long as she could stand, which was about two minutes. "Okay, <em>stop,"<em> she ordered, jerking her arm out of the archer's hand. "You've got some explaining to do."

To her credit, the strange girl didn't evade the matter. "I know."

"Good." Hanako folded her arms. "Who are you, who were those weirdos, who was that other weirdo, and what were those things coming out of your back?"

"I..." The girl broke off, throwing furtive looks to either side, and Hanako belatedly remembered that they were not the only pedestrians on this other street. "I cannot speak of it here. We must go to a private place."

She offered no suggestion as to where that place might be, an omission which didn't improve the foreboding feeling in Hanako's gut. "How about we go our separate ways and pretend this didn't happen instead?"

The reply soundly nixed that option: "Unacceptable. We absolutely cannot be separated."

"Great..." Tempted as she was to just bug out and call it even, Hanako doubted she could outrun her shadow. In any case, responsibility wouldn't allow it and curiosity demanded satisfaction. "Fine," she said curtly, turning on her heel. "But don't try anything funny."

The girl kept pace perfectly. "I will not."

As foreign as she looked, she spoke Japanese like a native. Another layer to the enigma. "So what do I call you?"

"My name is Karen. I am Number Thirty-Six."

"Lovely... Hanako Hanlon, like the razor." She turned right. "My apartment's this way."

They walked in silence for a minute. The laceration on the inside of Hanako's lower lip was swollen and smarting, but the bleeding had stopped and her teeth were all where they should be. Thank goodness for small mercies.

"Hanako-sama," said Karen suddenly. "I do not wish to be rude, but I am curious... Are you perhaps from Okinawa? Your way of speaking is different than the others I have heard here."

"Pretty sure they don't talk like this even in Okinawa," the woman replied dryly. "And no, I'm from Detroit." There was an awkward pause. "Detroit, Michigan? Motor City? _Robocop?"_

"I do not know it."

"No kidding." Hanako let the ignorance of geography slide for now. "Are you always so formal?"

"It is how I was instructed to behave. Is this not appropriate?"

"Eh..." Hard to argue against such earnestness. "I guess it's okay."

* * *

><p>"Well, here we are." Hanako kicked off her shoes and carelessly pushed them over against the wall. "Sorry about the mess."<p>

Karen didn't find the apartment messy at all, but why was it so full of gaps? Gaps on the living room floor where little depressions in the off-white carpet outlined missing furniture. Gaps on the kitchenette counter where a few lonely appliances were haphazardly arrayed. Gaps on the hardwood shelves where rows of books and DVD cases had fallen sideways against one another.

Her ashikabi was rummaging around in the refrigerator by the time she finished removing her own footwear. "You want a beer?"

"I do not drink."

"Good," said Hanako sourly, swinging the door shut. "I forgot, she took those too."

"Who?"

"Miki." Hanako dropped herself onto the dismally colored sofa, that being the only article left to sit on. She had a look on her face like she'd swallowed something bitter. "My backstabbing roommate."

Joining her in the main room, the archer slipped off her quiver and rested it against the end of the sofa. She retained the bow, laying it across her knees as she sat down. "What happened?"

"Ah-ah." The taller woman shook her head. "You first."

"Of course..." Karen took a moment to steady her nerves. It was bad enough that she made a poor first impression and carelessly insulted her ashikabi – on top of those errors, she was certain her partner would not like what she was about to say. "To answer your first question, I am a sekirei."

"You're a wagtail? Like the bird?"

"That is the name that was given to us."

Hanako rubbed her forehead. "This better be good."

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight... You're a sekirei, which means you look human but you have special abilities."<p>

"Yes."

"MBI, world leaders in biotechnology, raised more than a hundred of you. Now they've turned you loose in Tokyo to find compatible human partners, what you call ashikabi."

"Yes."

"Once you all have partners, you're supposed to fight each other in a battle royale until only one team is left."

"Yes."

"That light show after you did a stuka into my face means you and I are a team, and you need me to unlock your full power."

"Yes."

"I'm not the teammate you wanted."

"I did not say that."

"You said there's a reaction when you come near the right person," Hanako pressed. "You didn't feel it when you met me, did you?"

Karen averted her eyes. "That is not conclusive – "

"If you're trying to sugarcoat this for my sake, don't bother."

The archer seemed to sink into the cushions. "There was no reaction," she confessed. "It does not matter. The one who gave me wings is you."

"Wonderful." Hanako laced her fingers. "So what now?"

"I do not know if any of the male sekirei remain unwinged, but I will assist you if you wish to search for them."

There was a clear disparity in their respective priorities. "I don't want a male sekirei," the ashikabi told Karen bluntly. "I want to get us out of this."

"You cannot leave the Sekirei Plan unless I am terminated."

"I got that part, thanks." Hanako slouched forward on her elbows, feeling an urge to do something and yet not knowing what to do. "What's MBI's stake here? I know the founder is supposed to be some kind of maniac, but how does hosting a goddamn _cockfight_ help their bottom line?"

"The president is..." Karen bolted upright without warning. "Hanako-sama, do you have a telephone?"

"An old busted Samsung, why?"

A look of deep concern had broken through the sekirei's cold facade. "It is customary for the president to contact new ashikabi. He should have done so by now."

"Just a second." Hanako wiggled a scratched and smudged smartphone out of her pants pocket, using her thumb to smooth over the strip of cellophane tape which held one side of the casing together. "Power's on, signal's good. If he wanted to get in touch... Oh." Somebody _had_ wanted to, and tried seventeen times in the past half hour. As she stared at the list of missed call notifications, a salient detail lazily floated to the surface of her mind. _"Shit."_

"What is wrong?"

Hanako pulled up the system preferences. "I turned off the ringer when I was doing my interviews... There, fixed it." Dismissing the configuration screen, she balanced the device on her knee. "Am I supposed to call back or wait for him to try again?"

"I am not certain."

The words were barely out of her mouth when the phone lit up and the apartment was filled with bombastic marching music. "Speak of the devil," said Hanako. "It's a video call." Holding the gadget in front of her face, she tapped the green button rendered on its touchscreen.

There was a blast of noise and a man's grinning face appeared. His shock of white hair and thick-framed glasses were distinctive by themselves, but it was the absurdly large lapels on the cape that made his identity irrefutable: Minaka Hiroto, self-proclaimed genius and architect of a corporate global empire. _"You should always answer your phone,"_ he chided cheerfully. _"Otherwise you'll miss out on some really amazing stuff!"_

"The vibrate mode's broken," Hanako retorted. "This is about your 'Sekirei Plan' thing, right?"

_"Correct! Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on joining our grand game!"_

"Congratulate me?" She squinted at him. "You gotta be kidding."

_"Don't sell yourself short, Hanako-chan! Winging a sekirei proves you are a person with the potential to change the fate of the world!"_

"Can I change it so my rent is lower? ...No, scratch that. How the hell do you even know who I am?"

_"It's my business to know these things,"_ Minaka cackled. _"Don't forget, the Sekirei Plan is a secret! If you tell anyone about it, bad things will happen!"_

"Like anyone would believe me," Hanako muttered. "Listen, can I talk to someone who isn't high? We have a serious problem here."

The president pouted. _"I'll have you know performance enhancing substances only slow me down!"_ The transmitting camera's view of him was suddenly blocked. _"Wait! Takami-kun, I'm not finished!"_

Minaka was replaced by a woman in a lab coat, her left eye covered by a patch. Her hair was white as well, which was strange given she didn't look much over forty. _"What's the problem?"_

Karen cut in before Hanako was able to answer, leaning over so that she could see the screen. "Sahashi-sama, what happened to your eye?"

_"Never mind that. You were saying?"_

"Ah, yeah..." Hanako glanced at the sekirei sitting beside her, realizing too late that she didn't have a good way to say this delicately. "Karen got hitched to the wrong person. The winging, whatever you call it, it only happened because she ran into me when she was trying to get away from a couple of freaks."

_"I see."_ Takami, if that was her name, put a cigarette between her lips but didn't light it. _"You had mouth to mouth contact with Number Thirty-Six?"_

"Briefly, yeah."

_"Her wings came out?"_

"Yeah."

_"Were there any other humans around?"_

"No."

_"Then there's nothing I can do."_ The cigarette bobbed up and down. _"Who was chasing her?"_

"Twins in fetish gear. There was also a guy who showed up at the end, one of them called him Homura."

_"He arrived after the winging?"_

"That's right." Hanako squinted again. "You know these people?"

Takami ignored the question. _"How are you feeling, Karen?"_

"I am well, Sahashi-sama."

_"That's good. I know this isn't what you wanted, but make the most of it, okay?"_

"I will do my best," Karen assured her. "For my ashikabi's happiness."

The pledge satisfied Takami and alarmed Hanako at the same time. _"I have to get back to work,"_ the former announced. _"You be good to her, understand?"_ She ended the call without giving time for a reply. Hanako put down the phone and slumped against the sofa's back, staring at the far wall. Then she reached over and pinched her own arm.

"Hanako-sama, what are you doing?"

"Wondering if that truck hit me after all, and the rest of today was a very slow pre-death hallucination." She tucked away the Samsung. "I can't think of a smart way to express how fucked up this is."

Her evident lack of enthusiasm troubled Karen. "May I speak freely?"

Hanako shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Do you feel I am... not good enough?"

"Say what?"

"You are reluctant to fight," the archer elaborated, "even though you defended me without hesitating. Are you afraid I will fail you?"

Disparate priorities again. "You really want to do this, huh?"

Karen nodded. "I am a sekirei," she said resolutely. "To find my destined partner and fight for that person's sake is why I exist."

"And the fact that you're doing it because a rich loon gets a kick out of blood sport is fine by you?" Even as she spoke, Hanako knew she didn't want to hear the answer. "Forget it," she sighed, slipping off her coat as she left the sofa for the kitchenette once more. "I need time to think about this... But first I need to eat something. You hungry?"

"Yes."

"I should use up the dough from yesterday." Hanako stuck her nose in the fridge. "Is pizza fingers with peas and carrots okay?"

"I have never had that."

"Figures." Hanako rolled out the freezer drawer and removed a bag of vegetables. "Since you told me your life story, I guess it's my turn now."

"I would like to hear it."

Bits of green and orange cascaded into a small pot with a tinny clatter. "It's not that interesting, but whatever... I'm twenty-four years old, I was born and raised in Detroit, and I like pretty girls, violent movies and pepper jack on crackers." Hanako filled the pot at the sink and set it on one of the stove top's smaller electric coils. "I'm a third generation Japanese-American. My dad's a cop and my mom's a photographer."

Karen was hanging on every word. "Please, continue."

Her ashikabi switched on the stove and set the preheat for the oven, hands on autopilot as she kept talking. "I graduated from the University of Michigan two years ago with a bachelor's in film studies. Getting a job on that turned out to be harder than I thought." Hanako pulled a baking pan from the cupboard next to the sink. "So I went with Plan B: go to Japan and teach English."

"Why did you choose that?"

"I figured it was an easy way to check out the family roots, maybe make some money on the side. My grandparents spoke the old language at home even after they emigrated, so Mom learned it growing up and passed it on to me." After dripping a bright yellow oil onto the pan, she spread it into an even coat. "I had all the looks and none of the culture, but that was enough. Landed a spot at a high school in Nagoya."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"It was okay." Hanako adjourned her narrative while she washed and dried her hands. "I got downsized a few months ago," she continued, taking a plastic-wrapped dough ball from the refrigerator. "They called it a consolidation, but really it was a simple layoff. After that Miki and I decided to come to Tokyo and try our luck here."

"Who is Miki?"

"She was a phys ed instructor. I thought she was my friend." Hanako scowled at the soft stuff in her hands as she pulled it apart. "We rented this apartment together, and she found a new employer pretty quick. The best I got was out of school tutoring, weeknights and weekends. It was enough to stay on top of the bills... Then Miki got a boyfriend and it all went to hell."

"What do you mean?"

"She skipped out on me the day before yesterday. I came home to find the place like you see it, and the neighbors said they'd seen her and some guy carrying stuff out." Fingers with short nails pressed down the dough along the pan's lip. "She took my booze, my coffee maker, the rice cooker I paid for half of, helped herself to my books, my movies... The landlady just shrugged and told me to find another roommate by the end of the month."

"As your sekirei, I am expected to live with you," Karen pointed out. "Would I be an acceptable replacement?"

"I'm tempted to give it a shot, but I can't pay rent for both of us." Hanako assembled a plate, a grater, and a brick of mozzarella. "Even if I could, you'd still need references."

Karen rose, taking something from a hidden pocket. "The rent is not a problem," she stated. "I can pay with this."

'This' was a plastic rectangle with _MBI MEMBERS CARD_ printed across the front in block letters. Hanako raised an eyebrow. "That for real?"

"It is completely real." Karen frowned thoughtfully. "Would it be inappropriate to give Sahashi-sama as a reference?"

"I dunno," said Hanako, resuming her grating. "Who is she, anyway?"

"Sahashi-sama is MBI's head of research and overseer of the Sekirei Plan."

"Yeaaah... That might lead to some awkward questions. Anyone else?"

"If she is not suitable, the others will not be either."

"Hm." Hanako shook the last cheese shavings out of the grater and put it in the sink. "With a VIP card, maybe the landlady won't care." A thought occurred to her as she got out the sauce jar. "By the way, where have you been staying up until now?"

"I rented rooms in various hotels."

"Uh-huh." Cutlery rattled in an open drawer. "I have to go out for work later," the ashikabi remarked, taking out a spoon. "Is there anything you need to pick up?"

"No. I have all my possessions here with me."

"All right... This will be done in about fifteen minutes. Take a seat and I'll set the table."

* * *

><p>'Setting the table' proved to be a figure of speech, since the malefactor Miki had absconded with that item. In its absence, sekirei and ashikabi balanced their plates on their hands and ate their lunch on the sofa.<p>

Hanako's 'pizza fingers' was a sort of flat bread with herb-infused tomato sauce and shredded cheese on top, this being baked, cut into strips and eaten by hand. It was a radical departure from Karen's habitual diet, though she could not say it was unsatisfying. Hanako herself deprecatingly called it 'collegiate cooking' and rapidly scarfed her share before attacking the vegetables with a spoon. For that portion, Karen requested and received a humble set of wooden chopsticks – the only ones Miki hadn't stolen.

They talked more after the meal. While Hanako cleaned up, she told Karen a little more about Detroit, her university days, and her time in Nagoya. In turn, Karen recounted her journey across the city and her impressions of the people and places she found along the way. The mood lightened appreciably, and Karen felt genuine disappointment when Hanako had to leave.

Until she came back, the sekirei was advised to make use of her library. Most of the volumes were in English, which Karen could not read fluently, and dedicated to topics she never studied. There was no appliance for viewing the DVDs either, though their colorful cases provided several minutes' distraction as she parsed titles like _The Wild Bunch_, _The Terminator_ and _The Guns of Navarone_. Eventually she tired of it, so she pushed _Rambo III_ back into place and took down a Japanese book about somebody named Eisenstein.

* * *

><p>Hanako's evening was perfectly, boringly normal. She kept her mind on her work and worked through her students' lessons without incident. Only after, as she walked home with a carton of Chinese takeout in each hand, did she let herself contemplate her position. The whole thing was incredible, and not in a good way. A part of her still wanted to believe it was all an elaborate trick, but those odds felt slim after what she'd seen Karen and Homura do. That left her with one pressing question: what now?<p>

Her simplest option, taking the easy way out by arranging for Karen to suffer a quick defeat, was off the table for good. It would be a cold day in hell when Hanako abused the girl's trust like that, never mind the subsequent obligation to hand her over to MBI. What else, then? Running and hiding from the corporation seemed unfeasible given what she knew about the extent of its reach, and she couldn't predict Minaka's reaction to an escape attempt. Suppose she went along with it, played her allotted part in his sick charade? Whichever way she looked at it, Team Hanlon's chances of surviving until the finish were marginal at best.

She needed more data – the abilities of the other hundred and seven sekirei, the personalities of the dozens of ashikabi who winged them, and the exact mechanics of the Sekirei Plan would be good to start with. But how to get that information? Would Karen know?

Hanako held on to that thought as she climbed the three flights of stairs to her apartment and juggled dinner while she let herself in. "I'm back," she called, bumping the front door closed with her elbow. "Everything okay?"

"Yes." Karen neatly closed her book and slid it back into its place. "Is your wound better?"

"It's getting there." Hanako set the cartons on the counter. "I'm gonna eat and hit the sack," she warned her guest. "I get up pretty early."

Dinner was a quiet affair, save for the copious slurping of noodles. Hanako finished first, and took a few minutes to jot down a to-do list as Karen caught up. The sekirei's belongings, packed into a bundle and strapped to the bottom of her quiver, consisted of one set of spare clothes, a comb, a toothbrush, a bar of soap, and a handful of like necessities. Hanako's initial priorities, then, were to settle with the landlady, restock the refrigerator, and get her companion a more practical and less conspicuous wardrobe. She had just one student to visit tomorrow, and normally this would be her opening to hit up Crazy Ivan's at the end of the day. As much as she looked forward to it, that might have to wait.

"Karen," she said at last, twirling the pencil between her fingers, "is there a way I could learn more about the other players in the Sekirei Plan before we have to fight them?"

"I do not know." The archer raised a cluster of noodles to her mouth, then let it down again. "Perhaps I do," she corrected herself. "I have heard of a place where sekirei live and fighting is forbidden."

"Meaning it might be safe to try and make contact there? Do you know where it is?"

"Not precisely, but I believe I know where to search for it."

"Worth a try." Hanako added that to her list. "What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

><p>Until now, the bedroom remained an uncharted territory to Karen. Hanako had gone into it before she left, and again when she returned, but the sekirei had not approached its threshold. Her first glimpse came after the pair finished brushing their teeth. "I've only got one futon and blanket," said Hanako as she opened the inner door. "Either we share or someone has to sleep on the sofa."<p>

While the rest of the apartment might be characterized by its dispersed gaps, this room was one big gap. There were no furnishings at all except for the futon laid out in one corner, with a desk lamp and a laptop computer on the bare floor beside it. More of Miki's work, Karen presumed. "What do you prefer?"

"I'm okay with sharing." Hanako switched on the lamp, emptied her pockets and doubled back to the closet at the nearer end. "You can do whatever's comfortable, I guess."

The words and the accompanying body language were too vague for Karen to clearly understand her ashikabi's wishes. Now more than ever, she needed certainty. "Do you want my company?"

"Wouldn't mind." Hanako unfolded a large white t-shirt and began shaking it out. "I haven't had a girl in my bed for three years. I'm starting to forget what it feels like."

"Then I will do my best to please you."

The shaking stopped. "...Eh?"

Karen shrank a little as Hanako turned to stare at her. "I was instructed on the assumption that my ashikabi would be male," she fumbled. "I am not sure how to conduct myself with a woman."

* * *

><p><em>Oh.<em>

_**Oh.**_

Hanako could have kicked herself. "I was just talking about sleeping," she explained hastily. "I didn't mean I wanted you to... do that." Her brown eyes narrowed. "Are you _supposed_ to do that?"

Karen's cheeks were turning a color that would make tomatoes envious. "As your sekirei, it is my responsibility to answer your needs," she insisted, though a quaver at the end belied her projection of self-assurance.

"Not happening." Hanako gave the shirt an extra hard snap for emphasis. "I have rules about this stuff. One, I don't get physical on the first date. Two, I don't fool around with straight girls. Three, I don't do reluctant partners." She circled in front of Karen and flipped the switch for the overhead light, leaving the pair with only the diffuse glow of the floor lamp to guide them. "You're not offering sex because you like me, you're offering because you think you're obligated to put out."

"It does not matter."

"It _does_ matter, dammit!" The sekirei flinched and Hanako realized she was letting frustration stoke her temper. "It does," she continued in a lower tone. "You're not a doll, Karen. Your feelings matter. I don't want you doing anything you're uncomfortable with."

"But..."

For the time being, Hanako decided not to press further. This problem wouldn't be solved in a night. "I'm going to bed. If you want to stay with me, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine too."

Karen responded to decisiveness better than she had to the attempted encouragement. "I want to stay."

"Then come on." The ashikabi stood beside the futon and quickly stripped down to her panties. Fabric rustled behind her as she pulled on the t-shirt, and she turned to find the archer undressing as well. By this point it scarcely surprised Hanako that Karen's underwear combined a sports bra with a classical loincloth.

The sekirei herself seemed caught off guard by something. "Hanako-sama, what is that?"

She was looking at the shirt, the front of which hadn't been visible to her until now. With her sheltered upbringing, she might have never before seen such surreal imagery: potatoes bearing the heads of men, with a slogan – _oh, no! it's DEVO_ – splashed across the top. "It's my monster-proof shirt," said Hanako. "Uncle Gary gave it to me when I was little, told me it would scare away any nasties hiding under the bed." Bending over the futon, she set about sorting her discarded garments. "Those guys on the cover were in a band about forty years ago."

"They were musicians?"

"Yeah." Hanako gathered up the folded suit. "Well, they did a lot of electronic stuff and some people say that's not real music..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at Karen just in time to catch the sekirei, now totally and perfectly nude, in the act of letting her hair down. "What are you doing?"

"You said to do whatever is comfortable." Karen let her arms fall at her sides, making no effort to cover herself. "Did I misunderstand?"

"Uh..." Hanako's train of thought departed from _don't look_ at full throttle and raced through _what the hell_ and _wow she's fit_ before violently derailing near _bet she's got a great ass_.

Karen's shoulders were broad, her arms showing muscles honed by hard practice with her chosen weapon. Her breasts were neither large nor little, well shaped and tipped with small pink nipples. Below them her ribs gave way to a taut belly. Her powerful shoulders lent her hips an illusory narrowness, in spite of their feminine curves. She had no hair down there, though Hanako didn't remember seeing a razor among her things. A killer pair of legs completed the ensemble, which taken all together made her ashikabi feel downright flabby in comparison.

"Hanako-sama?" Karen prompted anxiously. "Do you find my body displeasing?"

"Too pleasing." Hanako marched past her, threw the suit into the closet and yanked out a second t-shirt, black with _Darmok & Jalad – Live at Tanagra 9/30/1991_ printed in gold. "Put this on."

Karen did. It covered less than expected, the hem barely reaching her upper thighs, but it was good enough for tonight.

"That's better." Hanako lowered herself onto the futon and slid her legs under the blanket, making a space for Karen to lie at her right side.

The archer folded her uniform and laid it at the foot of the bedding. She started to climb aboard, but stopped halfway. "Hanako-sama, there is something I have neglected to do."

"What's that?"

Karen moved without reply, swinging a leg across the futon and rolling until she straddled Hanako's waist. Placing her hands on the older woman's upper arms, she pressed her lips against her ashikabi's mouth. Light flared at the edges of Hanako's vision and then the sekirei drew back, wings spreading over her shoulders. "My heart beats for you," she murmured. "Forever and ever."

It was all wrong. This ritual wasn't meant for Hanako, or for Minaka and MBI's cruel circus. Even as it kindled a half-forgotten warmth inside her, she knew she couldn't accept it. "No," she answered, countering the archer's promise with one of her own. "Until this is over."

* * *

><p>Homura was between roofs when the phone in his pocket started buzzing. Landing nimbly, he secreted himself in shadow. "I'm here."<p>

_"Sorry I didn't get in touch earlier."_ Takami sounded tired, and at this hour she was probably mainlining coffee and cigarettes to stay awake. _"Busy day at the office."_

The fire sekirei assumed she wasn't calling merely to chat. They'd met face to face just the other night, after all. "Did something happen with Number One-Oh-Seven?"

_"He's fine."_ She paused and Homura heard slurping on the line. _"You were late to a winging this afternoon."_

"Yes," Homura admitted. "I had to intervene in another incident and the twins gave me the slip. The one they were chasing reached her ashikabi before they could terminate her."

_"It wasn't her intended ashikabi,"_ Takami told him. _"The winging was caused by accidental contact."_

"Accidental? You're sure?"

_"That's what the ashikabi said, at least. I was upstairs when Minaka called to congratulate her. She wasn't happy about it."_

"I'm sorry."

_"I'm not blaming you."_ Papers rustled in the background. _"It's a complicated case. She's a foreign national."_

This, so far as Homura knew, was unprecedented. "Minaka's letting her take part in the plan?"

_"You know how he is,"_ Takami growled. _"He decided it would make the game more interesting."_

"Of course." The sekirei guardian's ruby eyes wandered over a restless city's lightscape as he digested the news. "Could she be a spy?"

_"If she is, she's covered her tracks better than the others. We haven't found anything."_

"Do you want me to keep an eye on her?"

_"No, I'll use Saki for that. You have enough to do already... Anyway, I thought I should warn you: our profile says this one is intelligent, with aggressive tendencies. And she knows your name."_

The implication was obvious. "I'll be careful," said Homura. "What about the sekirei?"

_"Number Thirty-Six? Stoic, very loyal. She seems to have accepted the situation."_

Takami was right to say it was complicated. An accidental winging, a foreigner, and on top of that... "How many female ashikabi are there now?"

_"Off the top of my head, this is the third,"_ the scientist replied. _"But don't get your hopes up. She's a lesbian."_

At that moment Homura was rather glad nobody could see his face. "I didn't mean I was interested," he muttered. "I'm not looking for an ashikabi."

_"Right... Well, I thought you should know about it. How's work?"_

"It's fine."

_"That's good."_ Takami broke off, failing to suppress a yawn. _"It's time I turned in. I'll let you know when One-Oh-Seven is ready to come out."_

"I'll be waiting."

The line went dead. Homura checked the time, flicked the phone shut and made ready to move. He had twenty minutes to finish his sweep, then dash back to change his clothes and get ready for the second shift at his real job. In an hour he would be sitting at a low table with a lonely lady, pouring her drinks and praising her taste in earrings. In two hours he might be lying between her legs on a hotel bed, connecting their bodies in a cynical parody of a relationship. What the customer wanted, Kagari delivered – especially for his middle-of-the-night clients.

It couldn't fill the gap in his heart any more than he could fill theirs.


	3. Union Tour

**Author's note:** It took longer than I would have liked, but here's a new installment. Things are going to heat up in the next one, so stay tuned.

* * *

><p><em>Act 2: Union Tour<em>

Hanako woke up to find her body pinned against the futon and something pressed tightly against her right side. For a couple of seconds she lay perfectly still, wondering how much she drank last night, why she didn't have a hangover, and just _who_ she brought home afterward. Then her memory caught up with the rest of her mind, displacing erroneous supposition with bizarre yet unshakeable fact: yesterday a super-human, super-serious and super-attractive girl barged into her life and told her she was now a player in a dangerous game controlled by the eccentric leader of a mega-corporation.

"Yeah," she mumbled to herself. "That happened." Turning her head, she found Karen's face resting against her shoulder. The sekirei had moved in the night, snuggling close and draping an arm and a leg over her partner. Protective? Possessive? Or merely instinctive? Hanako couldn't say. She might enjoy it if the girl weren't gripping her quite so strongly. "Karen? Can you ease up a little?"

Karen shifted, nuzzling Hanako's sleeve, but didn't wake. The ashikabi grasped the edge of the blanket with her free hand and pulled it away, hoping the rush of cold air would rouse her. Instead it revealed a new hazard: the archer's shirt had ridden up, leaving her completely exposed from the navel down. It got worse as Karen reacted to the loss of warmth by squeezing harder, unconsciously bringing her most intimate parts perilously close to Hanako's bare thigh.

So much for methods of gentle persuasion. "Karen. Get _up."_

"...Hanako-sama?" Karen needed another a moment to become fully cognizant of her position, though she withdrew at once when she did. "Forgive me," she gasped. "This was not my intention."

"I'm sure it wasn't." _She's cute when she blushes._ "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, but – "

"Good." Hanako rolled out of bed and got to her feet. "Weather's nice," she remarked, peering out through the blinds on the room's one window. "Hope it stays that way... You can sleep some more if you want. I'm gonna hit the shower."

Somehow Karen took this as a call to duty. "Do you require assistance?"

"No," said Hanako firmly, taking a towel from the closet. "No, I do not."

The sekirei seemed... maybe not disappointed, but definitely unhappy. "Then I should exercise."

"Be my guest." Hanako headed for the door, very definitely not looking at the half-naked girl in her bed. "Just don't break anything."

* * *

><p>Hanako used her shower time to do some thinking about the problem at hand.<p>

As best she could figure, Karen had been taught to grade her own worth exclusively by how well she pleased her ashikabi. Further, the girl's rigid social protocols weren't letting her adjust to Hanako's less stringent personality, leaving the pair constantly out of sync. This couldn't be good for her self-esteem, and Hanako did not care to find out what a sekirei's nervous breakdown looked like.

But what to do about it?

She mulled over that question as she brushed her hair and left the bathroom, neatly wrapped in her towel. In the bedroom she found Karen – now thankfully clothed – doing pushups. "Shower's open," the ashikabi announced. "I'll start on breakfast."

* * *

><p>Karen would not allow herself to cry. To do so was to admit she was weak, unworthy of being a winged sekirei... And yet she couldn't stop the trembling as warm water cascaded over her bowed head. Even her own body betrayed her.<p>

Hanako was angry, of course she must be, and she was waiting for the right time to make her displeasure known. Would she punish Karen for the nocturnal transgression, or be content to know the archer's anguish at her repeated blunders was punishment enough?

Karen would not allow herself to beg. To do so was to admit she was weak, unworthy of being a winged sekirei... And yet she couldn't get rid of the ice in her stomach as she dried off and put on her spare uniform. Slipping out of the bathroom, she was met by the smell of food.

Hanako was in the kitchenette, and didn't look the least bit angry. She'd done up her hair in a ponytail, lower and looser than Karen's, and put on a pair of slim fit jeans and a white jumper. "Just in time," she said, holding out a loaded plate. "Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and cantaloupe, everything a girl needs... The cantaloupe might be a little overripe, sorry."

She was going to make Karen eat first and discipline her after? Feed her the meal and then starve her for the rest of the day? Feign normalcy and spring the punishment on her when she least expected it?

"Karen? You look like a kicked puppy, what's wrong?"

"I..." She wasn't going to plead for mercy. Absolutely not. "I am very sorry for what I did this morning."

Hanako blinked. "I know you are," she replied quizzically. "It's not like you meant for it to happen, right?"

Only now did it occur to Karen that maybe, just maybe, she'd gotten herself worked up over nothing. "You... are not angry?"

"If I were angry, you wouldn't need to ask." Hanako wiggled the plate. "Take this and sit down. I'll be right with you."

Karen did as she was told. Her bow and quiver were propped against the sofa where she'd left them yesterday, and she sat in the same spot as before. Hanako did something at the sink, wiped her hands and grabbed a second plate off the counter on the way out. Watching her like this, Karen couldn't help but notice the way the jumper hugged her body, especially around the breasts...

"See something you like?"

She suddenly found the orange and brown and yellow things on her plate much more interesting. "I did not mean that."

* * *

><p>"Well, okay." Hanako abandoned the attempt at humor as she joined her ward. "I don't think sharing the bed is going to work."<p>

The sekirei nodded. "I will sleep here instead."

"The hell you will. We'll get another futon, it's not like I haven't got space."

On that note, she tore into her food. Karen followed at a slower pace, eating methodically. Midway through her eggs, the archer stopped. "Hanako-sama?"

"Mm?"

"If I were comfortable with it, would you wish to have... relations with me?"

"Relations?" _Oh,_ Hanako realized, making the connection with their exchange last night. _She means **those** relations._ "I don't want to sound harsh, kiddo, but you're awfully fixated on that."

"You are my ashikabi," answered Karen, as though she expected this to justify everything. "In human customs, you are my husband."

"Ah..." She _had_ said something like that yesterday, when she was explaining the Sekirei Plan, but Hanako must not have properly registered it with so much else going on. The American stabbed a piece of cantaloupe with her fork and put it in her mouth, buying time as she considered whether to sort this out now or later. _To think some people would jump at a chance like this. A hot girl who's eager to please and won't say no? It's a goddamn dream come true if you don't look too closely._

"Hanako-sama?"

Hanako swallowed. "I was just thinking." _Gotta do it now or it'll be hanging over our heads all day._ "Karen, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to give me a totally honest answer. Can you do that for me?"

Karen straightened up. "I will."

"All right... Suppose you and I weren't a pair. Suppose you didn't have these sekirei duties and you could have relations with anyone you liked. Would you choose me?"

There was silence. Karen averted her face, cheeks flushing. When she finally spoke, it was with great shame. "I cannot answer."

"Don't be scared. Whatever you say, I promise I won't get angry."

"I am not afraid," Karen asserted. "But you are asking what I would do if I were not me. I cannot tell you that."

Not the reply Hanako expected, though on second thought maybe she shouldn't be surprised. For Karen, being a sekirei wasn't a trade or profession – it was her entire life. "You can't even imagine it?"

"No." Karen bowed her head. "I am deeply sorry."

The spiral of despair began to turn anew. This time Hanako went to Plan B before it could get up to full speed. "Okay, let's try a different question. You want me to be happy, right?"

As hoped, this one went down better. "Absolutely."

"I'll be a lot happier if you stop worrying so much about making me happy all the time." It was a curveball and Hanako knew it. "I'm serious. I don't want you freaking out over every little problem."

She could almost hear the gears grinding. For a few moments it seemed as if Karen might understand, but she faltered and again took refuge in the authority of her instruction. "As your sekirei, I cannot permit myself to be negligent..."

_I can't wait to get my hands on whoever taught you this bullshit._ Suppressing an urge to grit her teeth, Hanako switched to Plan C. "And as your ashikabi, I need you to trust my judgment."

Being reminded of her place tipped Karen from protestation back into submission. "I will," she said meekly. "Please forgive me, Hanako-sama."

"You're forgiven." She felt like a dirty rat, resorting to the same controls she wanted to liberate this girl from, but right now she was out of ideas. "Eat up. We've got a full day ahead."

* * *

><p>Breakfast was concluded and cleared away without further trouble. Karen insisted on taking the bow and quiver when they left the apartment, arguing that rival players might strike at any time. Hanako didn't contest the point: if it came to that, arrows far outclassed her flashlight.<p>

Dealing with the landlady, a steely-eyed spinster named Nagumo, went better than expected. Karen's respectful manners made a good first impression and Hanako's cover story about the sekirei being a daughter of MBI employees took care of the rest. Once the Members Card appeared, the question of references never even came up.

"That's one down," said Hanako, stopping outside the front door to cross it off her list. "Number two will be..."

* * *

><p>"Map app says this is the place." Hanako dropped the phone into her pocket. "I guess we just walk up and knock."<p>

There had been precious little information to start with. Karen only knew that the sekirei haven was called 'Izumo House' and that it lay north of MBI's headquarters. Except for its supposed location, Hanako could find practically no details about the place online. It looked nice enough up close: a two-floor boarding house of old-fashioned styling, surrounded by a high wooden fence. When it came to sekirei matters, however, looks were not everything.

"You remember the rules of engagement, right?"

"Do not attack, only defend," Karen recited. "And let you do the talking."

"Very good... Well, here goes."

The summons was answered by a doe-eyed brunette with a bob cut and an excessive bust, whose wardrobe combined a faux-traditional top with a short red skirt and thigh-high stockings. "Hello..?"

Hanako put on her best sunshine-and-flowers face. "Good morning," she said brightly. "I'm researching wagtails and – "

"Ah!" The girl put up her fists, which were covered by fingerless gloves with enormous wrist weights. "I'm Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi!" she cried eagerly. "Even if I'm inexperienced, I definitely won't lose to you!"

Karen already had an arrow nocked and drawn. "Hanako-sama, get away!"

"Eh?" The would-be combatant paused, looking from Hanako to Karen and back again. "You're not a sekirei?"

"No," said Hanako. "Now that we've settled that, could I speak to the ashikabi of the house please?"

* * *

><p>Once the standoff at the front step was defused, Musubi invited the pair inside and went to fetch her own partner. Karen felt both apprehensive and curious: this was their first meeting with another team, and her tuner's lessons had devoted scant time to diplomatic etiquette. She would have to learn from Hanako's example, while remaining vigilant for signs of perfidy.<p>

Musubi's ashikabi was a young man with a mop of black hair and a self-effacing demeanor, whose t-shirt and jeans hung loosely on his thin frame. He introduced himself as Sahashi Minato, a nineteen year old double repeater now working part-time while he studied for a third round of university entrance exams. Minato had two sekirei to his name: the cheerful Musubi and a blond, green-eyed waif named Kusano. She was Number 108, the last and youngest of her kind, and she plainly idolized her adopted big brother.

Hanako, on the other hand, found the child's presence distasteful. "So MBI is even making kids take part in this," she said coolly, observing Kusano from across the low living room table. "Don't tell me they just dumped her on the street and assumed she'd find someone to take her in."

"It wasn't like that." Though he shared the surname of one of MBI's most powerful members, Minato had none of her force of will. Even with two sekirei at his side, he seemed intimidated by his counterpart. "I guess I should start from the beginning..."

"Please do."

It transpired that Minato had gotten into the Sekirei Plan almost exactly the same way Hanako did. He was minding his own business when Musubi dropped out of the sky and hit him head-on, trying to escape from a certain pair of lightning twins. After their successful escape, Musubi reacted so strongly to him that she initiated a winging. MBI's Minaka immediately phoned to offer his congratulations, waxing nonsensical about wondrous schemes and fated encounters. Things only got crazier from there.

Given notice by a vindictive landlord, Minato and Musubi were forced to seek new accommodation. After a fruitless search, they stumbled across Izumo House and were taken in by its landlady, the kind, demure, frequently terrifying and presently absent young widow Asama Miya. It wasn't long before adventure's call drew them out again, sending the duo on a race to rescue Kusano from an overgrown botanical garden where a rival sekirei tried to seize her by force. Minato found unexpected allies in the electric S&M sisters, Hikari and Hibiki, and their own ashikabi, a rogue named Seo Kaoru. Nevertheless, it was Musubi who defeated their enemy in the end.

"So the witches are good for something after all," Hanako growled. "What's the story with that Seo guy?"

"He was a friend of Miya-san's husband. She says he's trash, but she feeds him when he comes here." Minato regarded his guest with trepidation. "You've seen his sekirei?"

"Yeah, those harpies were chasing Karen when I met her..."

She was interrupted at that point by the arrival of another tenant. This one had long brown hair with a side tail on the left, and wore a pair of capri jeans and a pink and purple top that showed off every curve. "More girls, Sahashi-chan? Where do you find them all?"

Minato flushed at her teasing. "It's not like that," he protested. "They wanted to learn more about the Sekirei Plan. This is Hanako-san, an English teacher from America, and Karen-san is her sekirei."

"I'm Uzume," said the newcomer, sitting on Minato's side of the table. "I'm also a sekirei. Nice to meet you."

Hanako nodded. "Likewise."

It seemed to Karen that Uzume's interest in the visitors increased when Minato said they were a pair, though the reason was not readily apparent. She put that aside as Hanako picked up the thread of her narrative once more, laying out the chain of events which brought them to Izumo House this fine morning. Their terse exchange with Sahashi Takami was excluded from the retelling, as were the archer's spurned offers of intimate comfort. Karen was puzzled by the former omission, but trusted that Hanako had a reason for it.

The listeners were taken aback by the revelation that Karen's winging was an unfortunate accident, none more so than Musubi. "That's horrible!" she cried, almost at the very moment Hanako finished speaking. "Separated from your destined one, not being able to fight for them or ascend together..." Turning fierce, she rounded on Hanako. "Even if you aren't her rightful ashikabi, you'd better treat her well! I definitely won't forgive you if you hurt her – "

"Enough!" Karen's palms slapped down on the table as she leaned closer to the fist sekirei. "Do not speak to Hanako-sama that way! She is brave and kind to me, though I am – "

"Karen." A hand settled on her arm, firm but not forceful. Hanako's eyes were closed, her face turned down slightly. The ashikabi's voice was unnaturally constrained. "I appreciate you standing up for me, but that's too much."

"I..." The tunnel vision opened up, giving way to hindsight with all its mocking clarity. Far from defending Hanako, Karen had embarrassed her. Only one course of action could be taken now: "I am very sorry," she intoned, bowing so low that her bangs brushed the table.

Minato looked a bit embarrassed as well. "Musubi-chan, you shouldn't make it sound like Hanako-san is a bad person."

"She's got a point," said Hanako mildly. "I don't want to be part of this, but I am. Karen's my responsibility and I have a responsibility to look after her." She crossed her arms. "Which brings me back to why we're here. I need to know what my options are, besides playing the game the way MBI wants."

Minato was first to answer. "Are you opposed to fighting, Hanako-san?"

Karen's ashikabi did not reply immediately. "My mother always told me violence doesn't solve anything. My father always told me she was wrong. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle."

"Ahhh," said Musubi. "What does that mean?"

"It means there are causes worth fighting for. Selfish survival of the fittest isn't one of them."

"Selfish?" Now it was Musubi who took offense. "You don't understand at all, this is a sekirei's purpose! If you won't let Karen-san do her best, aren't you the one being selfish?"

Again Hanako weighed her words carefully. "Let me show you something," she said. Taking her flashlight from its belt loop, she set it upright on the table. "This is a Maglite Four-D. My grandfather bought it from a hardware store in Lansing, Michigan in 1985. My father carried it to work every day until I was seventeen, and then the department banned it because some other cops were caught beating a homeless man. When I went off to college, he gave it to me."

This story was as new to Karen as to the rest, and she listened raptly. It echoed the television dramas so loved by her tuner, wherein fabled swords and armors were handed down from warrior to warrior in ages past. She had believed such customs were not found in America, a young country which her mentor disparaged as a nation of money-loving barbarians, yet it seemed she was mistaken. Somehow, associating her ashikabi with this noble tradition made her feel good inside.

Hanako gripped the light behind its head, with the tube pointing back over her forearm. "I put on the skateboard tape after a close call with a jerk who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Kept it with me ever since." Turning it around, she slid it back into the loop. "But my father didn't give me this to beat up muggers. He gave it because he trusted me to always remember what I learned from him: the strong have a duty to protect the weak, and must guard against ever becoming that which they protect from."

"You sounded pretty cool just now," remarked Uzume. "I see why she likes you."

"Who, Karen?" Hanako shook her head. "No romance here, sorry. We're stuck together and we have to make the most of it, that's all."

Uzume raised her eyebrows and Karen thought she was going to challenge that statement. Instead Minato spoke out. "I don't know how I can help, Hanako-san. You already know as much about the Sekirei Plan as I do."

"Ah, that's okay. Being able to meet you all has been a great help already."

"Really?"

"Really." Hanako smiled at him. "You seem like a decent guy, Sahashi-kun. I feel better knowing it's not all cutthroats in this mess."

"That's – " Minato was cut short by a low rumbling noise from Kusano, who had been glued to his side the entire time. "Eh? Is it lunch time already?"

Hanako rocked sideways, brushing against Karen's shoulder as she wiggled out her smartphone. "It's nearly noon. We should get going."

"Why don't you stay?" Uzume suggested. "We can get to know each other better."

"That's very kind, but I don't want to impose."

"It's fine," declared Musubi, jumping to her feet. "I'll get started!"

She ran out, leaving an alarmed Minato in her wake. "We can leave if it's a problem for you," Hanako offered.

"It's no trouble," the other ashikabi insisted. "Just that, well... Musubi-chan only knows how to make curry. And she makes a lot of it."

"I'm fine with curry. Karen?"

Suddenly a chance to make amends was in Karen's reach. Rising as well, she faced her betters. "Hanako-sama, Minato-sama, please let me help. I have had lessons in meal preparation."

Having secured their approval, and directions to the kitchen, she set out to redeem herself.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about earlier," said Hanako once the sekirei had gone. "That's the first time I've seen her get angry."<p>

"It's all right." Even so, something else was bothering Minato. "Hanako-san, how do you feel about Karen-san?"

"How do I feel?" A simple question without a simple answer. "She has a lot of good qualities. I just wish she wasn't so set on doing everything exactly the way she was trained."

"Oh?" inquired Uzume. "How's that?"

"Like – " Hanako caught herself in the nick of time. "I don't think we should discuss this in front of Ku-chan."

Kusano pouted and puffed out her chest, but she let herself be led away. That left Hanako alone with Uzume. "You say you don't like the Sekirei Plan," said the latter with a crafty gleam in her eye, "but you don't seem to mind being paired with a girl."

"I like girls," the American replied bluntly. "Sorry if that's a problem."

"It's not," Uzume assured her. "What about Karen-chan?"

"I don't know." Hanako hunched over the table, resting her forearms on it. "Right now I don't think she can separate what she feels from what she's been trained to feel." The last few minutes provided a perfect example. "Take that little outburst. She didn't do that because she likes me, she did it because she's my sekirei and a sekirei's loyalty is paramount."

For that, Uzume did not have a ready quip. "I wouldn't be too sure," she mused. "I mean, it's the first time I've heard of an accidental winging, so I really can't predict what will happen. She might come to see you as more than just her ashikabi."

"Maybe. I won't get my hopes up."

Minato rejoined them. "Ku-chan's watching TV in my room, but I promised I'd let her come back. What did you want to talk about, Hanako-san?"

"Ah, yeah." She rapidly organized her thoughts. "To keep it short, Karen believes it's her duty to be some kind of perfect samurai wife for me, even in bed."

"B-b-bed..?" Minato's face reddened. "You mean – ?"

"I do," Hanako confirmed. "She had no idea what to do with a woman, but she offered anyway. I turned her down and she took it as proof she's not good enough." She cocked her head. "You said Kusano sleeps in the landlady's room, but what about Musubi? She do anything like this?"

More blushing. "No, not at all."

"Maybe it's just Karen, then. I get the feeling sekirei education wasn't rigorously standardized."

Minato rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "I don't really know about that stuff..."

Hanako was going to ask for Uzume's input, but then she heard footsteps out in the hall. "I saw some unfamiliar shoes at the door," came a voice softly. "Do we have – "

He froze in the doorway, and in that instant Hanako's eyes raked his slender frame. Same messy silver hair, same height and build, same speech, a familiar set of black clothing... Homura, the fire sekirei from yesterday. The expression on his face said it all: _What are **you** doing here?_

Then, almost as quickly, he regained control. "A friend, Sahashi?"

Minato's composure was also out of whack. "This is, erm..."

That he didn't simply introduce his guest as an ashikabi clued her in. "Hamada Hanako. I give English lessons." She adopted a crocodile grin. "Perhaps you've heard that Sahashi-san is studying for entrance exams?"

"Of course." The interloper laid on some charm of his own. "Kagari. I work as a host."

"Ooh, a ladykiller. You joining us for lunch? It'll be ready soon."

Homura didn't take the bait. "I have to sleep now," he replied, feigning regret. "Maybe another time."

With a little smile and a wave, he retreated. Minato looked at Hanako in confusion. "Hamada?"

"My mother's maiden name." It appeared he made no connection between the elusive figure from Hanako's story and the man who'd just been standing in front of him. She found that interesting. "You know, I really could give lessons if you like." Hanako picked up her phone, which had lain on the table since she used it to check the hour. "Let me give you my number and you can think about it."

"Ah, sure." Minato took out one of his own, a clamshell model. "I guess I should too..."

The chance for drama now gone, Uzume grew bored with this mundane conversation. "If you're done talking dirty, I'll go get Ku-chan."

"Go ahead." Finally Hanako had Minato to herself, the perfect moment to ask what she'd wanted to know since she learned his name. "Say, Sahashi-kun..."

"Yes?"

"This may sound weird, but do you have an aunt named Takami who works in med tech?"

His eyes widened in astonishment. "You know my mom?"

_Did I just hit the goddamn jackpot?_ "She helped me out the other day. Small city, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"I didn't get to thank her properly. Can you tell her I really appreciate what she did for me?"

Though Minato seemed to believe the fib, Hanako's request brought out more melancholia. "I don't see her very much," the repeater confided. "She's busy with work all the time."

"Ah." If that was how they were, she wouldn't push him. "Look, don't sweat it. I can find her in the phonebook or something."

"No, it's okay. Here, I'll give you her number."

Hanako smiled, sincerely now. "That's a big help. Thank you."

* * *

><p>The food was brought out soon after that, and the gathering reconvened. It turned out that while Musubi could only make curry, Karen's skill lay in strictly traditional dishes. Their combined effort produced something that was definitely rice and curry, but a rice and curry unlike anything Hanako had eaten before. Once the initial caution wore off, she found it tasted pretty good.<p>

The chatter took a more relaxed turn as the boarding house's residents – sans Homura – piled questions upon their guests. Musubi, a great fan of television, was very saddened to learn that cowboys and indians were nearly extinct, Lord Albert and Lady Elizabeth didn't get married before the series' cancellation, and _G.I. Joe_ was no longer airing in the United States. Then Uzume asked about Hanako's family and the sekirei were treated to the tale of the newlywed Hamadas, who set out across a broad ocean in search of new beginnings, only to land in San Francisco on the first day of the Cuban missile crisis.

At last the hour of parting came. Karen took pains to apologize once more for losing her temper, and Hanako asked Minato to convey her respects to the landlady. Then they set off, not homeward yet, but towards a clothing store which Hanako favored.

"So," she said once Izumo House was a few minutes behind them, "how did things go in the kitchen? You get along okay with Musubi?"

"Yes."

"What do you make of her?"

"She is careless," Karen opined, "and ignorant of things a sekirei should know. However, she is strong and has much love for her ashikabi."

"Yeah, I'd say the same. How about Minato?"

"That is not for me to judge."

Briefly Hanako wondered if Karen would extend such discretion to all ashikabi, or merely the ones her master approved. "I kinda like him. He's the sort who gets pushed around, but I think he's good at heart..." She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts, and for a few seconds neither spoke.

"Did we accomplish our objective?"

"Not exactly," Hanako admitted, "but it's fine, since I learned some useful things. One, Sahashi Takami is Minato's mother. Two, the twins are known at Izumo House. Three, our friend Homura lives there."

"Homura does?"

"He came in while you were cooking. Reckon I rattled him pretty good... Apparently he uses the alias 'Kagari' and works at a host club."

Karen nodded. "Musubi told me there was a resident by that name, but I do not know what a host is."

"It's a paid companionship service for lonely ladies," said Hanako. "Or a polite way of saying he's a male prostitute."

"I see."

"Didn't find out much on Uzume. You?"

"She is winged, though she does not reside with her ashikabi. Musubi does not know why."

"Hmm..."

"What will you do now, Hanako-sama?"

"I'm not sure yet. We may have to wait and see what happens." Her features hardened. "There's something weird about this Izumo House business."

"What do you mean?"

"The game's manager has a son who's a player. After he gets into the game, he just happens to find lodging in a safe area that just happens to host some other players who just happen to accept him as a friend. Doesn't it feel a little too neat?"

"I do not understand."

"I don't have proof, but my hunch is Takami might be tweaking the game in Minato's favor."

"No." Karen was adamant. "Sahashi-sama would not do that."

From where Hanako stood, a little nepotism didn't add much to the woman's rap sheet. Still, maybe her sekirei's experience carried more weight than her own cynicism. "Perhaps not," she conceded. "In any case, Minato acts like he doesn't know his mother's part of this, or that Homura is a sekirei. He even let me have Takami's number."

"You can contact Sahashi-sama?"

"If I need to, why?"

"I must make certain she is not severely hurt."

Worried about the eyepatch, Hanako assumed. "I suppose we can try it when we get home."

* * *

><p>Unsurprisingly, Karen had no aptitude for modern fashion. She entrusted the wardrobe selection to Hanako, whose own taste ran firmly in casual and practical directions. After making sure the sekirei had a proper set of modern panties, she ended up picking out mostly Karen-sized versions of her own clothing. Probably for the best, since the store was invaded by a gaggle of gossiping housewives as the pair were checking out.<p>

That gossip's topic led directly to the question Karen posed on the way back to the apartment. "Hanako-sama, is there anyone you... like?"

"I'm not seeing anybody. There's one girl I'm interested in, but I don't know how she feels."

"You know her well?"

"I'd like to think so... Her name is Kei, she's a bartender at Crazy Ivan's. Heard of it?"

"No."

"It's popular with expats in this part of town. I drop in a couple times a week, just so I don't forget how to speak English. Was planning to go tonight, before you came."

"I am sorry."

"I'm not blaming you." Hanako had an idea, one that would be absurd if she weren't surrounded by absurdity. "Wanna come with me?"

"I do not wish to interfere..."

"It's fine, seriously. She'll want to meet you."

Karen showed interest, albeit hesitantly. "What sort of person is Kei-san?"

"Oh, she's really nice. She has this... this _elegance_ about her, it's amazing. And when she smiles it's like – " Hanako stopped herself. "Well, you'll see."

* * *

><p>"Hanako-sama?" Karen's voice slipped out as the bedroom door opened just a sliver. "When wearing panties, should the bow be at the front or the back?"<p>

"Front."

"Thank you."

The door was shut, and Hanako turned her eyes back to the Toshiba laptop balanced on her knee. She had meant to catch up on the day's news while Karen changed, but found her interest waning after she scanned the headlines and the first couple of articles. It was the usual tired assortment: terrorist attacks in Africa and the Middle East, politicians bickering over border flashpoints, another sordid celebrity scandal...

"Hanako-sama, I am finished."

Setting the computer on the sofa beside her, she instinctively braced for the worst. "Okay, let's see it."

Karen stepped out and stood in the center of the living room, looking mighty nervous for someone who willingly presented herself in the nude only last night. She had put on a pair of khaki cargo pants, made fast by a nylon webbing belt, and a white t-shirt with _BILL STICKERS IS INNOCENT_ stenciled across the front. "Is this acceptable?"

Hardly formal dating attire, but for a girls' night out? "Looks fine," said Hanako. "Are you comfortable?"

"I am."

"Great." On to the next thing. "So, you still want to call Takami?"

"Please."

"C'mere." Hanako moved the Toshiba and patted the cushion next to her. "Want to talk to her first, or should I?"

Karen sat. "As your sekirei, I should speak after you."

"Uh-huh." Hanako was starting to hate that phrase and everything it stood for. Moving the smartphone closer to her companion, she set it to conference mode and dialed.

Takami picked up before the first ring ended. _"Sahashi."_

"Hanlon," the ashikabi retorted. "Got a minute?"

The noise that came out of the speaker suggested Takami hadn't checked the caller ID before answering. _"How did you get this number?"_

"Minato-kun gave it to me," replied Hanako tartly. "Anyway, Karen wants a word."

On cue, the archer took her turn. "I was concerned about your injury, Sahashi-sama."

_"It's not serious,"_ said the white-haired woman dismissively. _"Just a little scar. My eye is fine."_

"What happened?"

_"The incident's been resolved already. There's no need for you to worry about me."_ She slurped something. _"Where did you meet Minato?"_

Karen looked to her partner, seeking permission. "Go on," was the response.

"I told Hanako-sama about Izumo House. She wished to meet other sekirei peacefully... I did not know your son was an ashikabi."

_"And? How is he?"_

"A little on the skinny side," Hanako weighed in. "He seems pretty happy with Newt and Muhammad Alice. I hear they already took out one sekirei."

_"Yes."_ Fingers clattered on a keyboard. Evidently Takami was multitasking. _"Did you tell him about me?"_

"I just said I wanted to get in touch. I gather he doesn't know you're running the gig."

_"It's better that way."_

"Is it?"

_"Despite what you may think, I didn't want Minato to be part of this. Now that he is, I can't help him."_

Perhaps Karen was right, thought Hanako, but she wasn't ready to bet on it. "He has to play by the rules, huh?"

_"That's right."_ Takami put an edge into her voice. _"And so do you."_

Hanako didn't doubt MBI had the muscle to back up the implied threat. "I get the message," she said. "While I have your attention, there's a couple of other things I'd like to know."

_"Don't think I'm going to do you favors just because you met my son."_

"Humor me, will you? I'm not asking much."

There was a pause. _"Fine,"_ sighed the scientist. _"Out with it."_

"First, where's my deadbeat roommate?"

_"Kurita Miki?"_ More typing. _"Emptied her bank account and left the city in the company of a racecar driver from Osaka."_

"Great taste," grumbled Hanako. "Second, Homura. Why did he take on Tweedledum and Tweedledee yesterday, and why did he look guilty as hell when I saw him at Izumo House?"

_"That's his job,"_ Takami explained. _"Protecting unwinged sekirei from marauders. As for the other part, he probably thought you went there looking for him."_

"Smooth-talking pretty boys don't interest me. Even the ones with cute parlor tricks."

_"Then I trust you won't interfere with his work."_

"Right." Hanako decided to quit while she was ahead. "That's all I needed. Thanks a lot."

* * *

><p>Before she left for work, Hanako set up the laptop with a pair of headphones and a guest account for DVD player access. The movie selection was limited, as Karen had already seen the great works of the Kurosawa canon and few of the foreign films had Japanese subtitles, but her ashikabi scrounged enough to provide a few hours' entertainment. The tutoring session ran long, not unexpectedly, and Hanako had to stop for groceries on the way back. Following a light dinner, teacher and archer set out for an evening at Ivan's.<p>

This time Karen was persuaded to leave the bow at home.

* * *

><p>From the outside, Crazy Ivan's didn't look like anything special. It had a neon sign at the front, same as most of the other businesses on the street, which spelled out its name in red and yellow under a five-pointed star. The name was written three times, in katakana, English, and an alphabet which Karen did not know. "Hanako-sama, what is that?"<p>

"That's Russian. You've never seen it before?"

"No..."

"You're about to see a lot more of it. Ready to go in?"

Was she? Standing at the gates of an unknown realm, unarmed and beholden to new and stricter rules of engagement, could she say she was ready? In this place she was not allowed to address Hanako with due respect, nor act in her defense against the insults or advances of others. She was expected merely to stand back and let her ashikabi deal with any trouble that might come.

"Karen? You all right?"

"I..." She would not lie. "I am anxious."

"That's okay. It's your first time, after all." Hanako held out a hand. "Here."

Karen curled her fingers around it and let herself be led through the swinging doors. The next thing she saw was a white signpost planted in the floor, with arms pointing to either side: _Bonn_, _Paris_, _Roma_ and _Amsterdam_ on the left, _Berlin_, _Москва_, _Praha_ and _Budapest_ on the right.

Hanako headed for Berlin. "This way. Kei's working east of the wall tonight."

There was a wall, certainly. It bisected nearly the entire room, blocking off Karen's left as she and Hanako walked deeper inside. The fixture appeared to be made of cement, standing a little higher than her shoulders and topped with coils of razor wire. Tables and chairs were placed to her right, along the periphery of the room. Hanging fixtures cast pools of light over the seated patrons, while narrow beams swept across the darker expanse of open floor with mechanical regularity. The red-painted wall behind the tables was decorated with posters and banners, carrying cryptic slogans in strange tongues. _Für den Schutz der Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Macht_, read one. _Партия Ленина - Сила Народная Нас к Торжеству Коммунизма Ведет_, ran another.

A woman approached. Karen assumed she was a waitress since she carried a tray with drinks, though the sekirei had never seen one wearing a military dress uniform before. Hanako pulled her partner closer to the center wall, making way for the employee to pass. As she did, Karen surreptitiously touched a finger against the surface. It wasn't cement at all, but plastic. On a closer look, the wire was fake as well. Then Hanako was moving again, and she had to keep up.

Crazy Ivan's bar spanned the head of the room, curving outwards at the center. There were a number of open stools, and Hanako lost no time setting a course for the closest pair. A man behind the bar saw her coming and waved. She waved back. "That's Vanya," she informed Karen as they sat down. "Ivan Korovin. He owns the place."

Karen studied him intently. He was in his fifties, she guessed, stout and balding with narrow-set eyes and a snowy mustache. At present he was conversing with another customer, a buxom raven-haired lass in a tight violet dress that showed off _all_ of her legs. Having company like that, perhaps the archer's self-consciousness was without merit.

"Kei!" exclaimed Hanako. "How's my favorite pixie?"

Karen's attention snapped to the front. There stood another young woman, about the same height as Hanako. She was blond and boyish, blue-eyed and button-nosed. Her voice was husky, yet gentle. "Very well, thank you. And yourself?"

"It's been a weird couple of days," the ashikabi replied. "This is Karen, my new roommate."

Kei smiled. "Welcome to Ivan's. What can I get for you?"

What was there to get? Karen had no idea. "Er..."

Hanako came to the rescue. "Ah, she doesn't drink alcohol. What's your soft selection like?"

"We have root beer, ginger beer, lemonade, cherry cola – "

The sekirei seized upon the first familiar option. "Lemonade," she blurted. "Please."

"Make it a big one," said Hanako. "This girl deserves it."

"Certainly. Would you like your regular?"

"Not tonight." Hanako considered her choice briefly. "I think I'll try that Gorby combo you told me about last time, with the usual snacks."

Kei nodded. "One Gorby, one lemonade. I'll be right back."

She exited through a curtain behind the bar. Her costume, Karen observed belatedly, was unlike the others: a lavender silk dress, long sleeved and close fitting with slits on either side, worn over white trousers. Was there some significance to that? She grasped that the establishment had a theme, but did not understand it. "Hanako-san?"

"Hm?"

"What is the meaning of this place?"

"I think Vanya said it best." Hanako mimicked a man's gruff voice. "Cold War is over for thirty years. Soviet Union now is attraction for tourists." She frowned at Karen's blank look. "You _do_ know about the USSR, right?"

"I have heard of it." Heard of it, but little else. "This was not part of my training."

"Oh boy... Okay, I'll give you the short version. The Soviet Union was a group of countries with a single government, dominated by Russia. In theory, it was a paradise with no rich or poor, where everything belonged to the workers and peasants. In practice, it was a repressive machine that brought suffering and death to millions of people before it ran out of gas and fell apart." Hanako spun around on her stool, spreading her arms to encompass the whole room. "This is the Cold War: the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact proxies in the east, the United States and its NATO allies in the west, and the wall between them."

"I see."

Kei returned with a tray, from which she efficiently unloaded a large glass, two smaller glasses, and a shallow bowl containing small off-white and pale brown pellets. The big glass was Karen's lemonade. The little ones went to Hanako, one filled with yellow liquid and the other deep red. "Thanks," said she. "You look really nice, by the way. Is that Chinese?"

"Vietnamese," the bartender corrected modestly. "They call it áo dài." She smiled again, doing a little half-turn to show off the dress's profile. "I'm glad you like it."

Karen felt an odd tightness around her stomach. "Hanako-san," she cut in, "what is that you ordered?"

"A Glasnost and a Perestroika. You drink the Glasnost and it makes you open, then you drink the Perestroika and it restructures you." She picked up the yellow glass. "Well, here's to Miki and her glamorous boyfriend."

Kei inclined her head sympathetically. "She hasn't come back?"

"Nope. And from what I hear, she's not going to." Hanako set her drink down. "Not like Nagumo would let her after what she did. Besides, I've got Karen now."

"That's good, isn't it?" Blue eyes sought out gray. "But tell me, how did you meet Hanako?"

Karen quelled her impulse to reproach this mere serving-girl for speaking of her ashikabi with such crass informality. "Hanako-san protected me."

"It was pretty wild," her companion added as another customer came up to the bar. "Set that guy up and I'll tell you about it."

"Of course."

Kei slipped away to take the man's order and Karen relaxed slightly. Better for Hanako to tell the tale and spare her sekirei any awkward questions... The tutor distracted her from these thoughts by taking one of the brown things from the bowl and popping it into her mouth. "What are those?" the archer asked.

"Peanuts and yogurt-coated raisins." Hanako pushed them a little closer to her. "Help yourself."

Karen warily picked out a white one. It was chewy and sweet, but not overly so. After contemplating it for several seconds, she ate another. "These are good."

Shortly Kei rejoined the pair and Hanako launched into the story of the past day's encounter. This time she omitted the sekirei elements, recasting Hikari and Hibiki as a pair of common thugs driven off by a passing gigolo. "...We settled with Nagumo this morning. She gets a paying tenant, I get a roommate, and Karen – " Just then her pocket began to emit a strident marching tune. "Whoops."

This sort of interruption was seemingly familiar to Kei. "You still use _Preussens Gloria_ as your ringtone?"

"I always know when it's for me," replied Hanako dryly, extracting her phone. "Hi, Mom. Can I call you back?" She winced. "A drive-by in Shinagawa? I'm not in Shinagawa, I'm at Ivan's... No, I'm not moonlighting as a gunrunner, that's ridiculous... Listen, can I step outside real quick?" Flashing her company an apologetic look, she ducked out.

The suddenness of it left Karen disoriented. "That was... Hanako-san's mother?"

"It was. She's in London this week, covering a fashion show... Hanako likes to say she is – " Kei was diverted by a new patron's arrival. "Excuse me, please."

Left to her own devices, the archer took a pull through her lemonade's straw and let her gaze wander. The lady in the violet dress had settled her tab and was now bidding a cheery farewell to Ivan. She turned away, reaching back to straighten her hair, and for a moment Karen could see a design embroidered at the top of her shawl: an image of a bird above a taijitu, the ancient symbol of harmony, flanked by smaller glyphs.

Karen's blood ran cold. The same crest was branded between her own shoulders, as it was upon every winged member of her race. This was the worst outcome she could imagine, caught in a public place without her weapon and separated from her master. The other sekirei headed for the exit, giving no sign that she noticed her rival, and vanished behind the central wall. Karen's instinct was to follow her, though she well knew the game's rules forbade attacking a rival's ashikabi.

In the midst of her crisis, Kei reappeared. "Is something wrong, Karen-san?"

Karen pointed to her enemy's former spot. "That person who just left, who is she?"

"The one who was speaking to Ivan? I've seen her a few times, but I'm afraid I don't know her name."

"I see..."

Kei didn't question her reasons for asking. Her cheerful expression, however, became serious. "While Hanako is not here, may I speak to you honestly?"

Learning that the mystery sekirei was a repeat customer eased Karen's agitation. "You may," she answered, curious to know what the bartender wished to keep private.

"Good." Kei leaned closer, laying her arms on the counter. "Hanako does not have many friends, and I think what happened with Miki has affected her more than she lets on. At times like this, she needs to be able to trust those who are closest to her. You are in a position to help in ways I cannot. May I rely on you?"

If Karen held any doubts about the sincerity of the blond woman's affection, they ended here. "Absolutely, you may."

"Thank you," said Kei warmly. "I know it's presumptuous of me to ask such a thing."

"I do not mind."

The discussion petered out, but the tension in the air had been dispelled. Even better, Hanako came back safe and sound. "Whew," she sighed, hopping onto her stool. "Sorry about that. When she gets into one of those moods, I have to promise I'm being a good girl or she'll fly over here to check on me in person... Did I, uh, miss something?"

Karen sipped her drink. "It does not matter."


	4. When A Problem Comes Along

**Author's note:** Many thanks to the readers who have followed, favorited and especially reviewed the story so far. It's always appreciated.

* * *

><p><em>Act 3: When A Problem Comes Along...<em>

"Hanako-sama, please wake up."

"Nnnf?" The bedroom was semi-dark, the world outside still in dawn's prelude. Turning to the left, Hanako made out Karen's unclothed figure kneeling beside her futon. "Wha's wrong?"

The sekirei bowed her head. "I dreamed," she said quietly. "I do not remember it clearly, but when I awoke I was afraid. I felt I needed to be... with you."

Not all of Hanako's cylinders were firing yet. "With..?"

"That is..." Karen was likely blushing, though she couldn't see it in the gloom. "May I lie beside you?"

"Oh." This wasn't what she had in mind when she told Karen to wake her in case of trouble. Still, it qualified. "'Kay," the ashikabi grunted, wiggling sideways and turning down the blanket. "Get in." The girl climbed over in silence, slipping her lower body under the covers with a soft rustle. Hanako pulled them back up and rolled onto her side, towards the archer. "Comfy?"

"Yes. Thank you, Hanako-sama."

"Mm-hm..."

* * *

><p>Hanako woke again to find that Karen had moved closer, but wasn't clinging the way she did on the first night. That was an improvement. Carefully rolling the other way, she picked up her phone. The virtual clock confirmed what sunlight already told her: she'd slept in, not that it mattered for someone who only worked after noon.<p>

Behind her, the covers shifted. "Hanako-sama?"

"Still here." She turned over, facing Karen. "Feel better?"

"Yes..."

The sekirei started to push the blanket off herself. "You don't have to go," offered Hanako. "I mean, if you want to stay a little longer."

"You do not mind?"

"Nope."

Karen settled into her place again. Her expression, however, was uneasy. "I remembered part of my dream."

"Tell me." Hanako laid her hand on Karen's arm, just below the shoulder. "Please."

"I was fighting the twins, but my arrows would not hit them. I called for you and you could not hear me." The girl averted her eyes. "That is all. I am sorry to have disturbed you over something so pitiful."

"Pitiful? Karen, that's _normal._ I have those dreams too."

"Hanako-sama..?"

"For me, they're usually about school. I suddenly realize I've got a paper due today, or I forgot to study for an exam tomorrow. Then I wake up and remember I graduated with flying colors." She gave a self-deprecating grin. "Pretty silly, huh?"

Karen did not share the humor. "My ashikabi is not silly," she replied solemnly. "She is gentle and patient."

"When you talk like that, it makes me want to hug you." As the words left her mouth, Hanako became acutely aware of how close they were, separated by little more than the thin fabric of her shirt. The hand she extended without a second thought was resting inches from Karen's bare breasts. "...But I shouldn't right now."

The archer viewed their situation differently. "As your sekirei, my body is yours to use as you wish. There is no need to hold back when you have such desires."

"Even if that were true, self-restraint is an ashikabi's responsibility." Hanako flipped onto her back. "Well, you know how I feel."

No answer was spoken, but there was a perceptible change in the mood. After some seconds, Karen sat up. "I must exercise. Please forgive my intrusion."

"Yeah..." Hanako's eyes flicked to the right, focusing on the red crest imprinted on the girl's back. She had to admit she found the mark pretty, despite being an instant killswitch if an enemy sekirei got close enough to touch it. _Major liability. Wonder if I can do something about that._

Karen crossed over to her own futon and began rearranging the blanket, left askew and rumpled in the wake of her nightmare. Hanako wanted to lie in bed some more, but the bathroom was calling and to stay here while her roommate worked out would be too much temptation.

* * *

><p>"You know, I'm almost getting used to this."<p>

A sort of routine had formed over the past few days, as ashikabi and sekirei adjusted to their new life together. With sparing use of Karen's MBI card, Hanako acquired a second set of bedding and furniture to replace the essentials stolen by Miki. She still did most of the cooking, while Karen attended to cleaning chores. Outside the apartment, the Sekirei Plan seemed to be in a quiet phase.

Not to say it was all smooth sailing, even before today's incident. On the morning after the visit to Crazy Ivan's, Karen came to breakfast with her bangs combed over to one side, imitating Kei's haircut, instead of parted in the middle. When asked, she claimed to believe Hanako liked it better that way. Hanako politely but firmly made clear that she preferred the usual style, and that she did not want Karen to act as anybody's surrogate. They hadn't gone back to Ivan's since then.

Another issue not fully resolved was Karen's own relationship with Hanako. It was obvious that she still considered herself sexually available to her ashikabi, regardless of the latter's determined refusal to accept any overtures. Hanako did compromise on one point for the sake of morale, allowing Karen to sleep and exercise in the state she was most comfortable. Not too much skin exposure that way, so long as she cleared out of the bedroom before her ward got warmed up.

_Maybe I should ask her to go naked for the whole day. If I can't avoid seeing her, I'll have to get used to it... No! Bad mental image! **Bad!**_

Seated across the table from her, Karen was thankfully unable to hear the internal monologue. "That is good," she said, replying to the prior comment. "Is it not?"

Hanako put aside her marital misfortune for the moment. "It's not," she declared. "Not when the Sekirei Plan is just getting started."

"You mean this is... the calm before the storm?"

"You can hide from a storm," said Hanako sourly. "This is sitting in a trench, waiting for the whistle to blow." She crammed a spoonful of cereal into her mouth with one hand and logged onto her laptop with the other. "Let's see which famous white guy was caught driving dru... Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

"What is wrong?"

Hanako re-read the opening lines, then read them a third time. "MBI paramilitary forces have seized control of Tokyo."

Karen put down her spoon and got out of her chair, coming around to the same side. "Why?"

"Doesn't say." Hanako scrolled through the text as Karen watched over her shoulder. "They locked down the airports and train terminals, and they're patrolling with boats and helicopters." The ashikabi picked up her phone and selected Sahashi Minato's name from the saved list. "How the hell did they pull this off?"

Minato answered the call promptly, though he sounded rather distracted. _"Hanako-san, good morning."_

"Hi. Listen, have you seen the news?"

_"You mean, about MBI occupying the city? Minaka made an announcement on TV a little while ago."_

"I missed that. Did he say what's going on?"

_"Not really. It seems like the second stage of the Sekirei Plan is beginning."_

"Second stage..." Hanako flash-reviewed her schedule for the day. "I think it's time for an English lesson. How do you feel about baklava?"

_"Er... It's a hat, right?"_

"That's a balaclava. Baklava is a Turkish pastry. I made a batch last night, but Karen thought it was too sweet and I can't eat the rest myself. I'll bring it over if you like."

_"Sure, I guess."_

"Great. See you soon." She hung up and turned to Karen. "Finish your food. We're going over the top."

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later they were on the street, Karen wearing her archery gear over her t-shirt and Hanako carrying the baklava in a cookie tin inside a slightly threadbare hiking backpack. MBI helicopters, mostly Black Hawks, crisscrossed the sky as they walked. The weather was pleasant, cool and breezy with scattered clouds.<p>

"Nice day for a date," remarked Hanako, half sincere and half sarcastic. She threw a sideways glance at her stoic escort. "Would that interest you?"

"I do not require such indulgences."

Hanako had a pretty good idea of the subtext underlying the refusal: _I am not the one you truly want to go with._ Even if the girl didn't say it, she was thinking about Kei. "I don't mind if you want to try," said her ashikabi. "See what it's like, you know? Might be fun."

Karen remained noncommittal. "Perhaps."

They were overtaken by an armored personnel carrier, painted in the same monochrome scheme as the choppers. Hanako tracked it until it turned at an intersection ahead. "Minaka tells us to keep the game secret, then openly flaunts his power. The man wants to have his cake and eat it too."

"Cake?"

"You can have a cake, and you can eat the cake, but if you eat the cake then you don't have it any more."

Karen frowned. "Having a cake serves no use if one cannot eat it."

_I'm gonna dress you up as Seven of Nine for Halloween._ "It's – "

Something hit the sidewalk behind them with a soft thud. They turned in unison, each reaching for her weapon as the intruder rose from her landing crouch. "Found you."

"Karen, wait." Hanako put a hand on her flashlight, but didn't draw it. "What was that?"

The newcomer had a diminutive figure, a full head shorter than Hanako, yet with a physique comparable to Karen's. Her skin was a rich shade of brown, covered sparsely by drab shorts, an olive tank top, fingerless gloves and paratrooper boots. The tufts of hair poking out under her baseball cap were a darker chocolate color. "I found you," she repeated. "The one who makes my heart race."

Karen relaxed her bowstring. "Hanako-sama, this person is – "

"I know," the ashikabi muttered. "Why me?"

"You're a hunter." The other girl raised her face, revealing vivid green eyes and a mischievous grin. "Aren't you, Neesan?"

"Uh... I used to cull razorbacks as a summer job, but that's probably not what you're thinking of."

The stranger's joy only grew stronger. "You know how it feels to stalk prey, to follow its trail and lie in wait." She placed her right hand on her chest. "And then..."

That movement drew Hanako's attention to a couple of details. One, there was a length of braided cord wrapped around the intruder's hand. Two, she wasn't wearing a bra. "No offense, but we're kind of in a hurry here," said the older woman. "If you want to tag along, that's fine."

The brown girl shook her head. "I can't go with you now. Find me at the botanical gardens when you're ready." With those words, she leaped away.

"Wait! At least tell me your name!" Too late. The unknown sekirei had vanished. "...Dammit."

* * *

><p>The pair arrived at Izumo House safely and without further hindrance. Today the door was opened by a woman with princess-cut lavender tresses and traditional clothes, similar to Karen's former costume except long-sleeved and colored white and purple. In one hand she carried a sword in a plain scabbard.<p>

Hanako greeted her. "Good morning. You must be Asama Miya-san."

"I am. And who might you be?"

"Hanako Hanlon and Karen Bowman. Sahashi-kun is expecting us."

"Yes, he told me. Please come in."

Minato met his visitors in the hall and led them upstairs to his own modestly furnished room. Gathering around the table inside, they were joined by a new face: a bespectacled, ginger-headed young lady sporting double pigtails and a loosely Chinese styled dress. Like Musubi and Uzume before her, she was gifted with a generous bust. "This is Matsu-san," said Minato, looking a little bashful. "She's my third."

"A brain type," added Matsu herself. "Nice to meet you, Hana-tan, Karen-tan."

Hanako ignored the childish nickname. "And the same to you," she replied. "Uzume isn't joining us?"

"She's sleeping," Minato explained. "And Kagari-san is at work. What did you want to talk about?"

"The second stage and MBI's takeover," answered his fellow ashikabi. "We have a new problem as well." Lifting the backpack onto her lap, Hanako unzipped it and pulled out the cookie tin. She opened the tin and set a box of toothpicks beside it. "I'm warning you now, this is really sticky. Brush your teeth extra well tonight."

Musubi took the plunge, spearing one of the little squares and carrying it to her mouth. "Mmmmmmmmf!" She swallowed. "It's good!"

Matsu and Kusano tried it as well, though Minato held back. "The problem is..?"

"We ran into another sekirei on the way over, and I think she was reacting to me." Hanako described the sidewalk meeting. "...So here we are."

Musubi finished off a third piece of baklava. "You're going to wing her, right?"

"I dunno, should I?"

She said it rhetorically, but the three sekirei across the table looked at her like she was about to drive a stake through her suitor's heart. Even Minato seemed surprised by her poor enthusiasm. "Well... If she's reacting, isn't it cruel not to accept her?"

"I'd like to hold on to whatever shreds of control I still have over my life," his counterpart retorted. "I already have one unexpected roommate. I'm not taking on another unless I know what I'm getting into."

Matsu adjusted her glasses, obscuring her eyes behind the round lenses' glint. "Hana-tan may not get another chance," she cautioned. "The second stage begins when only ten unwinged sekirei are left. From now on, the fighting will increase and other ashikabi will be rushing to capture the last sekirei."

"Meaning I should get her before someone else does." Hanako took a square for herself. "Wonderful... What about the city lockdown?"

"MBI is preventing players from leaving the game. Of course, there were measures in place all along, but doing it openly encourages aggression."

"The cornered animal bites hardest." Hanako folded her arms. "I'd at least like to find out who this sekirei is."

"Matsu can help you with that," said the same. "Follow me."

She led them to the end of the second floor hallway and opened a camouflaged revolving door in the wall beside the stairs. The room inside was dark, save for the glow of computer monitors stacked from floor to ceiling on all sides. Kneeling before one of them, Matsu placed her hands on the keyboard below it. Text and images flashed across the screens, coming and going faster than Hanako could interpret them. After several seconds the flow lessened, finally settling on photographs of three dark skinned and short haired girls: Hatae, Nambu and Kuzuri.

"Based on the description Hana-tan gave, it's – "

"That's her." Hanako pointed at the face in the middle. "Definitely her."

"Like I was going to say, it's her because she's the only one who isn't winged yet."

A data sheet and a new picture replaced the mugshots: the personal profile of Number 80, Nambu. The face was the same, though her hair was neatly combed and she wore a different costume. It appeared to be made completely of black leather, combining a choker, a halter top, short-shorts and thigh high stiletto boots. "Great," said her desired ashikabi flatly. "She's a dominatrix."

Minato scrambled to cover his youngest sekirei's ears. "Hanako-san, Ku-chan is listening..!"

Hanako paid him no heed. "A sling user," she noted, scanning the finer print. "That could be useful."

"Then you're going to do it?" asked Musubi.

"No promises," the American grumbled. "But since she went to the trouble of finding me, I guess I should at least go talk to her."

"It may not be that easy," said Matsu thoughtfully. "Hana-tan is sure she said to look for her at the gardens?"

"Yeah, why?"

"This is only Matsu's hunch, but she might want to challenge you before she lets herself be winged." The information specialist pursed her lips. "Hana-tan can't beat her in speed or strength, so it must be a test of cunning."

Hanako's eyes narrowed as she recalled Nambu's words. "If she wanted me to catch her, how would I do that? I assume a net or pitfall – "

"A net?" interrupted Minato. "Matsu-san, what happened to the one you used in the bath?"

* * *

><p>Matsu and Hanako both turned to look at him, allowing Karen to see their reactions from her vantage point by the door. The former was pouting. "That's not fair, Mina-tan. You spoiled the surprise."<p>

"Sorry..."

Crawling to one side, the brain sekirei pushed a hand into the narrow space between two of her computer towers. She pulled out a large black gun with a wide, stubby barrel. "This is an MBI riot control launcher. It fires a net woven from an ultra-strong synthetic fiber."

"And you had that in the bath, why?" Hanako quickly shook her head. "Never mind, I don't care. Will it work on sekirei?"

"Guaranteed."

"Are you letting me borrow it?"

"Of course." Matsu slid her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "There's only one cartridge left, so you'll have to make it count."

She held out the device and Hanako took it, keeping the muzzle aimed at the ceiling and her fingers clear of the trigger. "What's the minimum range?"

"Three meters for a single target."

"Okay." Hanako pulled out the net gun's collapsible stock and tested its fit against her shoulder, the movements quick yet comfortable. Watching her, Karen was struck by a powerful impression that her ashikabi had done this before.

"Hanako-san..." Minato hesitated, then recovered his resolve. "Now that the second stage has begun, what are your intentions?"

"I don't have any grand plans," was the candid reply. "As I see it, we should stick together as long as we can. Minaka never said we can't form teams, right?"

* * *

><p>Hanako and Karen encountered Miya at the bottom of the stairs as they descended, the launcher stuffed into the former's backpack. "Are you leaving already?" the landlady asked them. "I thought you would stay for lunch."<p>

"We have to run out for an errand," Hanako told her. "Should be back in a little while." Her eyes drifted to the sword which the lady of the house still carried. "Are you, ah... expecting trouble?"

"Oh no," said Miya. "I merely felt like practicing." She smiled sweetly. "Please take care."

* * *

><p>It was one of those days where Minato felt like his perception of the world lagged behind everyone else's, and he was only reacting when others acted. This had been happening to him a lot lately.<p>

"What are you doing, Mina-tan?"

Minato jumped. "I, er... I was just thinking..."

"Oh?" Matsu came closer. "Perhaps you're wondering why I helped Hana-tan so much, hmm?"

"Well..." While he welcomed any distraction from the embarrassment of being caught spacing out in the hallway, he was also genuinely curious about his newest sekirei's actions. "I guess I am."

"We need allies, Mina-tan, _allies._ Strength in numbers." She was getting very close now. "With someone like Hana-tan on our side, it might be possible to defeat even the Black Sekirei!"

This fiery spirit stood in stark contrast to the image Matsu presented earlier, when she cowered in terror behind her lair's trick door as an unanticipated guest trod the floors of Izumo House. It baffled Minato, since that same visitor had been nothing but cheerful and friendly towards Musubi. "Um..."

Matsu wasn't listening. "Everything is going according to my calculations," she announced gleefully. "If Hana-tan accepts Number Eighty, the rest will be simple." She laid a single fingertip on Minato's chest. "Of course, Mina-tan should be making more friends as well."

After waking up half-smothered by sekirei, Minato wasn't sure he could handle any more of the 'friends' she had in mind. "Could we maybe talk about that later?"

"Mmmm?" By this point she was almost rubbing up against him. "Is there something else Mina-tan wants to discuss instead?"

"Matsu-san?" The landlady's chiding voice drifted up the stairs. "What have I told you about impure acts in the house?"

"Eep!" Matsu frantically backpedaled. "I'm not doing anything, Miya-tan!"

As she retreated to her room, Minato realized he'd completely forgotten to tell Hanako about Karasuba.

* * *

><p>"You were awfully quiet back there."<p>

"I did not wish to cause offense."

"It's just you and me now, kiddo. You can cause all the offense you want." Hanako looked around, double-checking that they were alone, and stopped walking. "Before we go any further, I need to know how you feel about this."

"If what Matsu said is true, this is an opportunity you cannot squander."

"And you're okay with that?"

"As your sekirei, I will abide by your decision."

_Here we go again,_ thought Hanako. "That's not what I asked. If I go through with this, and that's a _big_ if, you're going to have to share everything in your life with another sekirei. Food, bed, my attention, all of it."

"If you find her agreeable, I shall do my best." Karen gripped her bow with both hands. "I... only hope you will not forget about me."

Hanako felt the same impulse she'd gotten as they lay together in bed, and this time she didn't reject it. "Come here."

The archer gave a startled squeak as her ashikabi pulled her into a bear hug. "Ha... Hanako-sama!?"

"Whatever happens, you're still my first. I won't forget that." She could swear she felt Karen shiver. "Trust me?"

"Yes... Thank you."

Hanako released her companion. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>The district botanical gardens had been in the news quite a bit recently, though Hanako was preoccupied with her own problems and paid little attention. It began with an outbreak of unnatural growth, upon which MBI evacuated and quarantined the area. The anomalous plants were then disposed of overnight, allegedly without any use of herbicides. From what Minato had told Hanako, the growth was connected with Kusano's powers. She wondered if the corporation's cleanup involved sekirei as well.<p>

The garden gate was locked. Its battered condition and the unrepaired blast damage on the street facing it dissuaded Hanako from lingering. "We'll have to go over or under," she said clinically, eyeing the surrounding wall. "How high can you jump, Karen?"

"This is not a problem for me."

"Good." Hanako shrugged off the backpack and laid it on the ground. "Can you give me a boost?"

"Yes."

With Karen's support, she heaved herself over the wall and dropped down on the other side. Her sekirei cleared the obstacle with a single leap. "Good job," said Hanako, getting her bearings as she put the pack on again. "Here we go."

Thick trees loomed over the pair, dead and barren. A winding footpath ran among them, and the ashikabi decided to follow it. Even without a living canopy, the forest had a gloomy atmosphere. Visibility on either side was limited by the numerous trunks, and the trespassers hadn't gone far before the sounds of the outside world disappeared completely. The stifling silence put Hanako further on edge, but it took a minute to realize what bothered her most.

"Is it just me," she murmured, "or is there not a single leaf in here?"

"I do not recall seeing any."

"Yeah..." None on the branches, none on the bushes, none on the ground. MBI's cleanup couldn't have been _that_ thorough. "Picked a nice venue, didn't she?"

The woods thickened, threatening to consume the narrow path entirely, and Hanako began to feel as if she could really get lost. Before she had a chance to dwell on it, Karen's eyes picked out something that didn't belong. "There."

Hanako saw it too. The path forked ahead, and between the forks was a large bush. Nambu's baseball cap hung from a branch on the front of it. "Looks like she left us a hint."

Karen started towards it, but her master caught her by the arm. "Hanako-sama..?"

"Just a minute." Hanako kept her distance, scrutinizing the cap suspiciously. Did Nambu place it there to mark a meeting spot? It wasn't pointed in any specific direction, so far as she could see.

"What is it?"

There was another possibility, one Hanako somehow didn't think of until this moment. She'd assumed she would be pursuing Nambu and not the other way around, but how sound was that assumption? If she considered it from a hunter's perspective, what looked like a signal could instead be... "Bait."

"How do you know?"

"It's basic technique." The ashikabi raised her eyes, searching the trees. "Pick a vantage point, lay out a lure, wait for the prey to come to you." Brush rustled at her back. "...Clever girl."

Nambu stepped out of the undergrowth and onto the path a few yards behind them. "You came," she said happily.

"Yeah..." _Did we seriously walk right past her?_ "So, ah, you want me to be your ashikabi?"

The slinger nodded. "That's right. Number Eighty, Nambu, has chosen you."

This was Hanako's moment to speak her piece. "Listen, I'm really flattered that you like me, but I think you should know – "

"Hanako-sama, please stop." Karen turned her head from side to side, listening intently. "Someone is coming," she informed the others. "From the gate, moving quickly."

* * *

><p>Homura found Tsukiumi right where he expected her, looking down on the city with brooding disdain. "Have you recovered from the other day?" she asked, glancing back at him.<p>

"Mostly," the fire sekirei replied. Crossing the rooftop, he stood beside her at its edge. "I'm not in the mood for fighting, though."

"As you wish." His rival scowled at a passing helicopter. "Just you wait, you vile monkey..."

Homura knew the remark wasn't directed at him. "You understand what this means, don't you?" he prompted, shaking his head at her one-track mind. "Instead of wasting time up here, go find your ashikabi and receive your true strength."

"I don't need it," Tsukiumi declared impetuously. "I'm the strongest! I'll never submit to one of those animals, never!"

"Even if you say that, you're – " The host was cut short by his ringing cellphone. "Excuse me... Hello?"

Matsu's alarmed voice blasted into his ear. _"Homura-tan! You have to get over to the botanical gardens right now!"_


	5. You Must Whip It

**Author's note:** To make up for the unexpected delay in updates, I've split the next chapter in half and put up the portion which was more or less finished. The second part will probably be where the story really starts to earn its M rating.

* * *

><p><em>Act 4: ...You Must Whip It<em>

Hanako looked to her potential second partner. "Were you expecting anyone else?"

"Not me." Nambu opened a pouch on her hip and pulled out a small round stone. "Ready to fight?"

"No, but do I have a choice?" The ashikabi moved leftwards, off the path. "Back up. You're in Karen's line of fire."

There wasn't time for the slinger to act. A pair of sekirei burst from the trees behind her, blocking the path to prevent escape in the shortest direction. A bullwhip flicked out, wrapping around Nambu and pinning her arms to her sides. A harsh pull on its handle sent her crashing to the ground, unable to soften the blow.

"You've been very naughty," the whip-wielder admonished. "Running away from your master like that, you'll have to be punished."

Nambu might be down, but she was far from out. "Let me go!" she shouted. "I already told you, he's not my master!"

Hanako sized up her enemies. The one holding the whip was a twin-tailed blonde, wearing a sleeveless short dress in black and yellow with white gloves. The other had narrow eyes and a pointed chin, framed by unkempt pale brown hair. Her sekirei crest was on her forehead, a position Hanako hadn't seen before, and she wore a simple kimono that hung open to the shoulders. It seemed to be held in place by a pair of chains, one spanning her bust while the other looped around her neck and ran down into her impressive cleavage. She was unarmed, unless said chains were detachable.

Karen had an arrow in hand, though not drawn. "Hanako-sama, the rules of engagement..."

"Wait." The American raised her voice. "Ah, 'scuse me? I was having a conversation with the young lady there."

The whip sekirei barely acknowledged her. "Did you come here to meet that crude woman?" she jeered, taunting Nambu. "Come along now. You'll be meeting someone much better soon."

Hanako squinted. "We're not just gonna let you walk out of here."

"Tch..!" The yellow and black fighter dropped her impudent tone. "Deal with them."

"Understood." The one in the kimono stepped forward, her dour bearing unchanged. "Your opponent is me."

She lifted her hands and jagged crystals sprang from the path, engulfing Karen up to her thighs. Karen loosed the arrow, aiming for her enemy's middle, but a shield of ice materialized to intercept it. The projectile struck, shattered the barrier, and dropped harmlessly at the impassive cryomancer's feet.

"Hanako-sama, I cannot reach her!"

Their other foe was trying to haul Nambu away in the meantime. The captive sekirei wasn't making it easy, digging her boot heels into the ground and fighting tenaciously for every inch, but she was slowly losing against her assailant's traction. Neither the whip girl nor her quiet confederate paid any more attention to the ashikabi in their midst.

Their mistake. "Suppression fire!" Hanako barked, realizing too late that Karen wouldn't understand. _"Keep shooting!"_

Karen did. As the bow twanged and ice cracked, Hanako put her half-baked plan into action. She darted past the ice caster, slipping the backpack's right strap off her arm. It swung free, pivoting around her left elbow from back to front. A quick hand tore open the top zipper, pulled the net gun clear and let the empty pack fall away. Working methodically, Hanako snapped the stock into the firing position, flicked the safety off and centered her target in the sights.

_Bang!_

The weighted net swallowed up the would-be kidnapper, causing her to lose her footing and fall smack on her ass. Hanako ran to Nambu's side and grabbed the slack part of the whip, dragging the handle beyond its shrieking owner's reach. "Hang on," she muttered, unwinding the coils which trapped the dark-skinned girl. "I – "

Before she could finish, Nambu threw her arms around Hanako's neck and pulled her down into a deep, fervent kiss. Hanako gave a muffled yelp as her teeth pressed against the half-healed cut inside her mouth. Nambu moaned, a shiver running through her body, and pushed her tongue between her ashikabi's lips. Her wings spread to their full width, lush green with a shape reminiscent of palm branches.

Something exploded.

Nambu released Hanako from the embrace with a dreamy expression. There was another blast as the tall woman straightened, and she turned around in time to see Homura, masked and dressed in his signature black costume, hurling a third fireball at the ice maiden. The latter summoned a new shield to block it, thicker than those which stopped Karen's arrows, and retaliated with a barrage of icicles. Homura vaporized them in a curtain of flame.

Meanwhile Nambu shook off the bliss of bonding and fell upon her ex-captor with a vengeance, thrusting a hand between the net's filaments. "Leaves of my vow," she pronounced, "shade against the sun which burns my ashikabi!"

"No!" cried the whip sekirei. "Master, help me..!"

No master came to save her, and in a few moments her struggle was extinguished. Rising up, Nambu unwound the full length of her sling. "A scrimmage in some border station," she recited in accented English, "a canter down some dark defile..." Drawing another stone from the ammunition pouch, she took aim at the ice sekirei's back. "Two thousand pounds of education drops to a ten-rupee jezail!"

_"CEASE FIRE!"_

* * *

><p>The Hamada woman's sudden shout jarred Homura's concentration, causing the fireball in his hand to lose its shape and collapse with a sputter. He braced for the expected onslaught, but the scrapped number took no advantage of his slip. She was looking at the angry ashikabi, as were Number 80 and Number 36.<p>

"You're on your own," Hanako told the scrapped number, her voice cooling to a don't-screw-with-me simmer. "You can check out now or leave quietly, up to you."

The chain-wearing sekirei hesitated only long enough to confirm Number 38's termination for herself. "I'll go."

"Smart girl. Don't take off just yet, I want to ask you something." Hanako pointed at Number 36. "And get that shit off her."

* * *

><p>The ice encasing the archer's legs burst apart, disintegrating into dozens of harmless chips. Karen fell to the ground at once, her lower extremities numb and unresponsive. She clutched her bow to her chest as the last few arrows in the quiver rattled against one another, a mocking sound to her ears. The rest were strewn at the feet of her untouchable opponent, heads crushed, shafts split or twisted.<p>

In less than half a minute, she had been shown the full inadequacy of her abilities. Her enemy crippled her at the outset and rebuffed her attacks with only a token effort. Even fighting against the far stronger Homura scarcely taxed the woman. Why, then, did she stop merely because Hanako commanded it?

Hanako herself joined the impromptu gathering. "The other one seems to be stable," she reported. "Strong pulse, steady breathing. We'll stay until MBI comes to pick her up." Crouching at Karen's side, she placed her hands on the sekirei's leg. "That's a bad chill, kiddo... Homura, can you thaw her out?"

* * *

><p>The silver-headed host rekindled his flame, though his speech was cold. "Move away, Scrapped Number."<p>

The ice sekirei stood back without comment. Hanako followed, letting Homura take her place. "All right, Subzero, let's talk." She nodded towards Nambu, who was twirling the loaded sling around her hand as she watched them. "And behave yourself."

"Hamada!" protested Homura, using the name she'd given at their last meeting. "Don't get so close to her, she's dangerous!"

"I got that part," said Hanako caustically. "Thanks." She crossed her arms, facing the lone opponent. "I was hoping that girl and I could get to know each other before we made any long term commitments. Way to fuck it up."

"My master... wanted that sekirei."

She couldn't tell if that was an excuse or an explanation. Either way, it fell short. "And you don't care that she didn't want him."

"If I don't obey Master's orders, I'll... be thrown away again."

"Again?" It dawned on the aggravated American that this might not be the person on whom to take out her frustration. _Okay... Calm down, deep breath, take it from the top._ "What's your name and number?"

"Akitsu... No number."

That didn't jibe with what Hanako had been told by Karen and Minato. "I thought all sekirei have numbers."

Akitsu shook her head. "I had one," she replied. "They... took it from me."

Hanako wanted to know more, but she was getting sidetracked from her original purpose. "Who's your master?"

"Master is..." Akitsu's words died away as the sound of approaching helicopters filtered through the trees. Just for an instant, a flicker of emotion showed on her face. "I have to go."

It was unlikely Hanako could stop her with anything less than renewed violence. "Then tell your master this," she declared. "I hate jerks who make underlings do their dirty work, and I hate scum who try to take what's not theirs. Next time this happens, I won't be so nice. Got it?"

The taciturn woman nodded. Departing, she headed towards the fork in the path, away from the main gate.

"...Akitsu." It was impulsive, and probably stupid, and now she had to finish it. "Your face is too pretty for that sad look. Try smiling."

There was no reply. Akitsu leaped out of sight, leaving Hanako with two sekirei to her name and more questions than answers. "I can't believe you did that," Homura told her. "You don't even know how dangerous it was, do you?"

Hanako ignored him. "Feeling better, Karen?"

"Yes, but... I am not certain I can stand."

"Take your time, don't force it. Nambu, I think you can relax now."

"Okay!" The tomboy reeled in her sling. "You were really smooth back there, Neesan. Where did you learn to do that?"

"De Niro in _Ronin_." Hanako picked up one of the broken arrows, examined it briefly, and dropped it. "I hope I don't have to pay for these."

"MBI will give you more." Nambu walked over and stood beside her ashikabi. "Is he one of yours?" she added, pointing at Homura.

"No, he's a passing knight-errant." Hanako frowned. "Homura, what are you doing here?"

"Matsu called me," the male sekirei replied. "She said Number Thirty-Eight and the scrapped number were up to their usual tricks. I guess she didn't care to tell me you were here as well." He indicated the discarded net gun. "You got that from her, didn't you?"

"Yeah." So the fire sekirei knew Matsu. It sounded like he had also dealt with these two before. "Thirty-Eight, huh? With the whip?"

Homura nodded. "Mitsuha, the Bee's Wing. Her ashikabi is Mikogami Hayato."

He paused, as if assuming Hanako was familiar with the name. She wasn't. "Go on."

"Mikogami is the most powerful player in the southern part of the city. Recently he's been sending his sekirei up here to capture unwinged ones for him. Most of his are idiots, but the scrapped number is something different."

"Sounds like a real class act," Hanako opined. "What does that mean, scrapped number?"

"She was pulled from the Sekirei Plan because she's defective, incapable of being winged. Somehow she escaped from MBI and Mikogami picked her up... Even without an ashikabi, she's very strong. This is already the third time we've fought."

"Uh-huh." Hanako could still hear the helicopters, though they weren't getting closer any more. With all these trees, they'd have to land outside the gardens and send someone in on foot. "Well, thanks for the backup."

"Don't get used to it. I was only able to help because I happened to be nearby."

"Thanks anyway." Recovering her backpack, Hanako brushed it off and went to fetch the net launcher.

* * *

><p><em>Intelligent, with aggressive tendencies.<em>

Homura would add _knows no fear_ to Takami's assessment, even if he didn't think the scrapped number would actually attack an ashikabi. As much as he disliked Mikogami, he knew the boy made his sekirei follow at least some of the game's rules. Hamada Hanako, on the other hand, was shaping up to be a loose cannon.

A loose cannon with himself right in its path.

Watching her zip up the pack and slip her arms through the straps, he realized that 'Homura' could ask questions here which 'Kagari' at Izumo House could not. "Hamada..."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Are you working with Sahashi?"

"With Minato?" Hanako hiked the straps onto her shoulders. "We don't have a formal agreement or anything, why?"

"Just... curious." Yes, that was it. Curious and not at all worried about how far the cannon might roll.

* * *

><p>Hanako didn't believe him. She had more pressing concerns at the moment, however. Concerns like Karen, who had gotten to her feet while the ashikabi's back was turned. "Can you walk?"<p>

"I believe so."

"Good. Move around a bit and get your circulation going."

She was going to say something else to Homura when Nambu's ears perked up. "They're here."

Hanako listened. "You're right. Okay, everybody be cool."

In a few seconds the MBI group appeared, coming up the path from the gate: six troopers in battle dress with body armor and helmets. Sahashi Takami walked in the center, her eyepatch and lab coat impossible to miss. Homura moved aside to let them through, but they stopped short of him and Takami pushed to the front. Displeasure was written all over her face. "I trust there's a good reason for your presence."

Hanako shrugged. "Nambu chose the meeting spot," she replied. "We showed up and got ambushed."

"The scrapped number was here," Homura chimed in. "She was fighting Number Thirty-Six when I arrived. Number Thirty-Eight was terminated by Number Eighty."

"I see." The white-haired scientist advanced, and the men fell into single file behind her. "I'll need to confirm some details. Don't go anywhere."

They'd brought a folding stretcher with them, which the grunts unpacked. One of them gathered the spent arrows while Takami examined the fallen sekirei. The onlookers kept an almost reverent silence as Mitsuha was placed onto the stretcher and carried past. She looked eerily peaceful inside the net, as if she'd merely fallen asleep... No, Hanako corrected herself, she _was_ asleep. Asleep and never to wake again until the game ended.

Would Mikogami miss her?

The soldiers took the girl away, but Takami stayed behind to tie up loose ends. "So," she began, coiling the whip in a businesslike manner, "you found your ashikabi?"

"Yep!" Nambu proudly pulled down the back of her tank top, exposing her crest. "See?"

The elder Sahashi's features softened. "That's good." Then she turned to Hanako, and it was like clouds covering up the sun. "That launcher is company property. Give it to me and I'll overlook this."

"Yeah, yeah." Hanako took off the backpack and opened it, deciding this wasn't worth fighting over. "There's your toy. Need anything else?"

"No, that will be all." The scientist put the net gun under her arm. "If you're going to keep associating with my son, try to prevent Matsu from acting completely depraved around him."

Takami took her leave and Hanako took a moment to straighten out her jeans and pullover. "This is not how I wanted my day to go," she complained to no one in particular.

"It could have gone worse," Homura pointed out. "You got what you came for."

More like what everyone else assumed she came for, though she kept that sentiment to herself. After their close call, it no longer felt so important. "Your landlady is expecting us at lunch. You coming?"

"I have work," said the host. "And it would be awkward if we arrived together."

"Ah, right." Mustn't forget that Minato didn't know his neighbor's identity. "Can I get your number before you go?"

"Mine?" Homura seemed surprised by the question. "Zero-Six."

"Your _phone_ number. You're supposed to protect unwinged sekirei, right? What if I see one who needs your help?"

"Oh... Yes, of course." He drew a business card from his pocket. "Here."

"Thanks." Hanako couldn't fault the fire sekirei for his reluctance, given she was in a good position to blackmail him. "Don't worry, I won't bother you unless it's serious."

Homura took the promise with sour grace. "Try not to attract attention," he warned. "We already have the Black Sekirei sniffing around. If you catch her interest, it won't end well."

"The who?"

He gave Hanako a look of alarm. "She came to Izumo House this morning. No one told you?"

"Nope. Who's this Black Sekirei?"

"Number Zero-Four, Karasuba. She's the leader of MBI's disciplinary squad, the ones who enforce the rules. A pure killer."

"And? Why was she at Izumo?"

"I didn't ask, but Matsu hid in her room the whole time Karasuba was there. I assumed her helping you had something to do with that."

"News to me," said Hanako. "I think we'll be having a chat when I get back."

* * *

><p>Mikogami scarcely waited for Akitsu to climb into the limousine before he launched a barrage of questions at her. "What happened? How did we lose Mitsuha? Are you okay?"<p>

The ice maker shut the door and sat beside her young master and his bodyguard, Mutsu. "Number Eighty... found her ashikabi."

"Who was it? Was it that rookie?"

"It was... a woman. She had another sekirei with her... The guardian was there too."

"No way," the boy complained. "I lost the Green Girl and Number One-Oh-Seven because of that jerk, and now he does it again? It's not fair!"

Mutsu frowned at his own ashikabi's immaturity. "Mikogami," he sighed, "you didn't even care about Number Eighty until this morning."

"I thought I'd have time to get her later," Mikogami whined. "I didn't expect she would up and leave like that!"

"It's my fault," said Akitsu softly. "I was... too slow."

The master was oblivious to her contrition. "What was the other sekirei like? Was it a strong one?"

"No, but... while I was fighting her, the ashikabi... caught Mitsuha with a net."

"A net?" Mikogami sputtered. "That's cheating!" He began to chew his thumbnail, a familiar habit to those who served him. "I won't forgive it! I absolutely won't forgive it!"

Mutsu tried not to roll his eyes. "Akitsu, what did this ashikabi look like?"

"Tall... Black hair. The other one called her... Hanako."

* * *

><p>With Homura and the helicopters gone, Hanako was at last free to conclude her business in the dead garden. She sent Minato a quick text to let him know they were coming back, then switched her focus to the girl who had been waiting very patiently. "Okay, let's try this one more time... I'm Hanako, age twenty-four, part time English tutor. This is Karen, my first sekirei. Welcome to the team."<p>

"Thank you." Nambu bowed to her sister in arms. "Nice to meet you, Karen-nee."

The archer nodded stiffly. "I trust you will fight well for Hanako-sama."

"Count on it," answered the brown girl confidently. "Let's hunt together, Hana-nee. Forever and ever."

"Right..." _I just hope you don't regret this._ "Ready to leave? I've had enough of this dump."

"Sure, let me grab my stuff."

Nambu scampered off to retrieve her cap and then disappeared into the woods. Hanako used the opportunity to tackle Karen's uncomfortable posture. "You sure you're okay? We can wait longer if you need it."

"No." The response was hurried, strained. "I do not wish to stay here."

Humiliation needed no voice when it showed so clear in those distressed features. In hindsight, Hanako should have addressed it sooner. "What's on your mind?" she prompted, putting her arms around her ward.

The shorter girl's body was tense as a loaded spring. "I failed you. Forcing an ashikabi to fight in a sekirei's place is inexcusable."

"I would have jumped in anyway." Hanako nudged Karen closer to herself. "That was a bad situation all around. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"But the outcome was not what you wished..."

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." The ashikabi laid a hand on her companion's back, under the quiver, and rubbed in slow circles. "Homura's right, it could have been worse. You're safe, Nambu's safe, that's what matters."

Nambu returned at that moment, hauling a rucksack as full as Hanako's was empty. "Okay, I'm... What's wrong? Is Karen-nee hurt?"

"She's feeling a little overwhelmed," said Hanako, still stroking the archer's back. "It was our first combat together."

The slinger's eyes shone with excitement. "Your first fight was against a single number? That's awesome!"

"Single number?" Another term the tall woman hadn't heard before. "You'll have to explain that for me."

Nambu was happy to oblige. "They're supposed to be stronger than the rest of us. If that Homura guy fought the scrapped number three times, she must be one too."

"I see." Hanako released Karen, her mind already making use of the new information. "Maybe we're luckier than I thought."

"Hanako-sama, what do you mean?"

"I'll tell you as we go. Come on." She led off towards the garden gate and the others came along one by one. "Simply put, we survived that fight because our opponents were sloppy. They got the drop on us coming in, but they dumped all their momentum once they got to Nambu. Akitsu didn't protect her flanks and left Mitsuha totally exposed. They took it for granted I wouldn't intervene."

"Ashikabi are not meant to take part in battle," objected Karen.

"And Mikogami isn't meant to steal other people's sekirei," Hanako retorted, ducking under a low branch. "My point is that Akitsu might be strong, but she didn't apply that strength effectively. If she had, I would have lost both of you."

The grim evaluation made Nambu curious. "What would you would have done instead?"

"Me?" Hanako paused to listen to her surroundings, just in case. "Suppose the roles were reversed," she offered, moving on. "Say they got here first and we had to make a rescue. I'd try to boom and zoom: hit them hard and fast, grab you and get out before they regrouped. No trash talk, no standing around."

"You sound like you know this stuff pretty well."

"I picked up some theory from Uncle Gary's war games. Wouldn't call myself any kind of expert." Now that she thought about it, Hanako had a great incentive to brush up on the subject. One more thing for the to-do list.

That list had gotten a lot longer today, and today wasn't even half over. She'd reluctantly found an ally, possibly made an enemy, and definitely begun to appreciate just how high the stakes in this game could go. Now she needed to fit two sekirei into her life while balancing her real job with her unwanted second occupation... Still, she had some blessings to count. Nambu seemed like a good girl, and building warm relations with Izumo House had paid off handsomely.

Fortune was on her side, but for how much longer?

* * *

><p><strong>End note:<strong> for the curious, Nambu was quoting from Kipling's _Arithmetic on the Frontier_.


	6. Complications

**Author's note:** Happy birthday to Winterbraid, who's been waiting a long time for this chapter. He did a nice piece of art for the story, which I swiped and cropped for a cover image. The full picture (NSFW) is linked from my profile.

Fair warning: things get a bit steamy in this one.

* * *

><p><em>Act 5: Complications<em>

It was a peculiar trio which climbed over the garden wall and left the scene without a second glance, the serious, athletic Karen on one side and the boisterous, exotic Nambu on the other. Hanako, the tallest and yet most feminine in figure, walked between them. Anyone hearing them speak would be further surprised by the mismatch of appearance and accent.

Nambu did most of the talking for the first stretch. She'd tried to live up to her name by starting her quest in the southern part of the city, moving north only when prodded by instinct. She also revealed that she liked camping and reading English literature, and was proudly bisexual. Not that her new ashikabi had anything to fear, the girl hastened to add: having received her wings, Hanako was the only partner she would accept.

When the chance came, Hanako brought Nambu up to speed on their situation. The slinger spent the rest of the journey trying to befriend her co-spouse, though Karen was unreceptive to these efforts. She didn't act rude or hostile, merely disinterested. Hanako supposed she was preoccupied with her defeat by Akitsu, or maybe wasn't sure how to respond to Nambu's energy. She hoped it didn't portend a problem later.

There weren't any problems getting to Izumo House, at least. "Welcome back," said Miya, opening the door at Hanako's knock. "Is this a friend of yours?"

"Ah, yeah." Behind her, Hanako spotted Minato and Musubi coming from the stairs. "This is – "

"Sekirei Number Eighty, Nambu." The dark-skinned girl bowed at the waist. "It's an honor to meet you at last, Asama Miya-dono."

"Oh my." Miya smiled even as Minato froze like the proverbial deer in the headlights. "I presume Hanlon-san is your ashikabi?"

"She is!" Nambu radiated pride. "Some mean people tried to kidnap me, but Hana-nee stopped them!"

"It was a team effort," said Hanako warily, her composure jarred both by Nambu's indiscreet introduction and Miya's knowledge of ashikabi. "I didn't realize you were involved in this, Asama-san."

"Oh, no. I'm merely a young widow who owns a boarding house." Miya glanced at her present tenants, hiding her lips behind her fingers. "But my husband worked at MBI, so I know about the Sekirei Plan." She headed back to the kitchen. "Do come in. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes."

Minato looked as if he suddenly realized a prank had been played upon him. "The landlady never said she knew about sekirei..."

"That's not stuff you can tell just anyone," Hanako pointed out. In hindsight, perhaps this revelation accounted for some of the circumstances which earlier aroused her suspicion. "I suppose it's one less person to tiptoe around."

"Yeah..."

Minato appeared unsure of what else to say. Might as well finish the pleasantries, Hanako decided. "Nambu, meet Sahashi Minato and Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi. Minato-kun has been a great help to us."

Nambu bowed again. "Pleased to meet you. As sekirei of the eightieth series, let's both do our best for our ashikabi."

Musubi was practically beaming. "Yes!"

The good mood didn't spread to Karen, who up to this point had been lurking at Hanako's elbow. "Nambu," she interjected sternly. "How did you know about Asama-san?"

The slinger seemed surprised by her question. "My tuner told me. Didn't yours?"

"...No."

"Mine neither," added Musubi.

"Really? Azuma-nee always said such nice things about Miya-dono and Takehito-dono..."

Hanako filed that away as she bent down to remove her shoes. "I'd like to check in with Matsu before we eat. We may have made some enemies."

Minato nodded. Once the rest had taken off their footwear, he led them upstairs to the brain sekirei's hidden room. Matsu was waiting. "Well done," she said, ushering the group in. "Hana-tan is now stronger than eighty-one percent of all participating ashikabi."

"Uh... Thanks, I guess." Hanako shut the door and closed the inner curtain behind her. "You weren't kidding when you said there would be competition."

"Of course." Matsu sat on a floor cushion. "It was lucky the masked sekirei happened to pass by."

"Masked?" Minato turned around. "Hanako-san, was it the same person as when you met Karen-san?"

"Ah," interjected Musubi. "The one who looks like Kagari-san, right? I've seen him near the gardens too."

It seemed Matsu didn't want to take credit for vectoring Homura to the scene. "Yeah," answered Hanako. "It was that guy again."

Her fellow ashikabi remained blissfully oblivious to the truth hiding in plain sight. "I wonder why he was there?"

"Wasn't very talkative." Hanako gave Nambu a warning glance. "I got the impression he had unfinished business with the other party."

"I see," said Minato thoughtfully. "Was it a hard fight?"

"Hard enough." Before she could explain, she heard Miya's voice calling from below. "Tell you the rest later."

"Okay. I'll go get Ku-chan and Uzume-san."

Musubi followed Minato out. "Go on ahead," Hanako told Nambu and Karen. "I'll be right there." The ashikabi waited a few seconds just to be safe, then locked onto Matsu. "Your net gun saved our butts," she informed the bespectacled sekirei. "Unfortunately a scary lady confiscated it."

Matsu definitely knew who that was. "Did the scary lady say anything about me?"

"Yeah, she said not to let you be a perv around Minato." Hanako cocked her head. "You do something to get on her bad side?"

"Matsu might have... _borrowed_ something expensive when she left MBI."

"Uh-huh." The tall woman folded her arms. "Okay, look... I appreciate your help, but I don't like being kept in the dark. Why didn't you tell us about Karasuba?"

Matsu cringed. "Hana-tan shouldn't say her name so carelessly," she muttered. "The Black Sekirei is..!"

"...Is bad news," Hanako concluded. "I got that much from Homura. _Why_ is she bad news?"

"She'll kill us. If we're not ready, she'll definitely kill us!" The ginger-haired girl shivered at the thought.

"Who's us? You and Minato? Everybody at Izumo House? Anybody who ever talked to you?"

"It could be much worse than that," replied Matsu gravely. "How much does Hana-tan know about the Disciplinary Squad?"

"Just that they enforce the rules."

One of the computers beeped. Its owner crawled over to it, still talking as she logged in. "MBI uses the Disciplinary Squad to control the game's players, especially to punish those who try to escape or refuse to fight. At the same time, the squad and their ashikabi are competing for the same prize as everyone else."

"Jesus." Hanako expected it to be bad, but not _that_ bad. "That's textbook conflict of interest."

"Hana-tan isn't wrong." The sekirei's fingers beat a machine gun staccato on the keyboard. "By my analysis, less than twelve percent of current teams are strong enough to defeat a single member of the Disciplinary Squad. For one team to defeat all of them is impossible." She tweaked her glasses. "Mina-tan doesn't know any of this yet. Matsu has been waiting for the right moment."

"We're keeping a lot of secrets from him," Hanako noted unhappily. "I don't like to treat my friends that way."

"There is a reason for everything," Matsu assured. "But it's good that Hana-tan feels – "

She was cut off by a knock at her door. "Hana-nee, Matsu-nee, the food's going to get cold!"

"Whoops." Hanako raised her voice. "We're coming, Nambu."

She had just put a hand on the curtain when Matsu spoke again, using none of her cutesy mannerisms. "Perhaps you're wondering what role you might play in this."

The ashikabi halted. "I'm listening."

"The Sekirei Plan's final reward is something many would use to benefit themselves, and some would use only to hurt others. Sahashi Minato would use that reward for the good of all."

"You're saying it's in my interest to help him win."

"Precisely," said Matsu with considerable gravitas. "For an emperor to rule ably, he must have the best of strategists and generals."

* * *

><p>Lunch was quite nice once they got down to it. Nambu hit it off with Uzume, generating a stream of banter which set a positive tone for the meal. When everyone had eaten, Hanako gave a slightly edited recap of the garden encounter. She tried to play up Karen's bravery in standing fast against a stronger opponent but it was a futile effort, as most of the reactions focused on her own part in the battle. Minato was taken aback by her recklessness, although his dismay melted into chagrin when Matsu reminded him that he'd done more foolish things himself. He was spared further embarrassment when the topic turned to the nature of the enemy, with Matsu pulling up information on a tablet computer she conjured from under the table.<p>

Mikogami Hayato was fifteen years old, a prodigy born to a rich family. He was estranged from his parents, who pushed him into a prestigious Japanese school after he had already graduated from an American university. At present he lived with his sekirei and a butler, being registered ashikabi to eight of the superhuman combatants. Mikogami had suffered two losses thus far: Mitsuha to Nambu and Number 43, Yomi, to Musubi. His profile noted selfish, impulsive and borderline attention-deficit traits, as well as a passion for video games. The attached image showed a boy with a shock of light brown hair, wearing a gold-trimmed white suit and cravat.

Most of the data on Akitsu, ex-Number 07, had been deleted from whatever database Matsu was tapping into. Her picture, however, survived the purge. The ice maiden was photographed in a loose t-shirt and sweatpants, giving a shy smile for the camera. She lacked the conspicuous forehead crest and it seemed to Hanako that she had a sparkle in her eyes which hadn't been there when they met face to face. The file held no clues to explain her scrapped status, nor her escape from MBI.

Hanako next requested Mitsuha's entry for the sake of thoroughness. She found little of interest in it, save that Number 38 scored below average on her intelligence test and that her sister Mitsuki was also part of Mikogami's flock. Nambu asked to see her own file, which was granted, and then suggested opening Karen's. The archer was visibly uncomfortable with that and Hanako vetoed it, taking this opportunity to steer the discussion elsewhere before anyone tried to ask for records on Minato, the masked sekirei, or herself.

The time of departure came sooner than all would have liked, but there was no helping it: the visiting ashikabi had duties to attend on the domestic front before her afternoon work began. First, get Nambu squared away with the landlady. Second, survey the fridge. Third, try once again to figure out what the hell was happening to her life. Hanako took a shot at the last of these on the way home.

She had neither refused nor accepted Matsu's proposal, not that she felt she would have much choice in the end. Today she witnessed how even privileged rivals in this game would stoop to assault and abduction for a quick advantage, and learned that powerful enforcers lay in wait for those who defied the master's mad scheme. If running and hiding from the Sekirei Plan seemed like remote options before, they were now further out than Neptune. MBI owned an army, owned the sekirei, owned Tokyo.

It would take a staggering amount of leverage to pull off such a coup and get away with it, assuming Minaka Hiroto wasn't simply too batshit insane to care about contingencies. At the very least he would need to be holding the Japanese government by the balls. What, Hanako wondered, would that involve? Nuclear power to back up economic clout? The idea of a biotech company going full Outer Heaven might be funny if it weren't disturbingly plausible.

A Chinook helicopter passed over the street, disturbing her concentration. On her right, Karen marched forward in grim silence. On her left, a full stomach had rendered Nambu quiescent as well. She hated to imagine what her parents would say if they saw her now, especially her mother. Uncle Gary, conversely, would probably slap her on the back and say _"Attagirl, Harry!"_

What she wasn't earning accolades for was progress on her own goals. Instead of escaping the game, she got pulled deeper into it. Her intelligence gathering was handicapped by the frustrating need for discretion around Minato, and each answer she did find merely unraveled into new questions. Why did Karasuba inspire such fear? Who were the other members of the Disciplinary Squad? How did Miya become owner of a boarding house for sekirei? What was the final prize and Matsu's method to attain it?

_For an emperor to rule ably, he must have the best of strategists and generals._

She couldn't deny the genius sekirei's offer held a certain appeal. If there was no shelter to be had in the gathering storm, then facing it with good, reliable company was the way to go. The problem was that while Hanako genuinely liked Izumo House's residents, their reliability remained unproven. Minato was a doormat. Musubi had her head in the clouds. Kusano was a child. Matsu panicked at the mere mention of a name. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

Hanako's phone chirped in her pocket. It was a text message from one of her students, asking if she could give a double lesson tonight. Putting in extra hours would leave no time to swing by Ivan's and see Kei, something she needed now more than ever. Still, the requester was a good, hardworking kid. For his sake, self indulgence could wait until tomorrow. While the trio waited for the lights to change at a crosswalk, the ashikabi typed out a short reply.

She was about to put away the phone when her eye fell on the newest number in her contacts list.

* * *

><p>Sahashi Takami was nursing a coffee mug in one hand and massaging her forehead with the other when the phone started ringing: not the office phone next to her workstation, but her personal smartphone. Setting down the mug, she picked up the device and unplugged its charging cable. "Homura? Is there a problem?"<p>

"_Hamada Hanako just texted me,"_ the fire sekirei reported. _"Wants to know if I could meet her to talk about the game. She says she'll pay for my time."_

Takami actually felt a little relieved, now that she knew the call wasn't about Minaka doing something terrible behind her back. "What do you think she's after?"

"_Wouldn't you know that better than me?"_

"I wish I did." She also wished her own children would show as much initiative as this problem ashikabi. "If you're thinking of going, I won't stop you. Just be careful."

"_Should I go?"_ Homura didn't sound very enthusiastic.

"I'm not saying you should or shouldn't," the scientist told him. "But if you do, it may shed some light on her intentions."

"_I'll have to see how my schedule looks."_

"Of course." Takami retrieved her mug and drained half of the lukewarm brew inside. "By the way, her legal name is Hanlon. Hamada is her mother's name."

"_I'll remember that,"_ replied the guardian. _"I think I liked Hamada better."_

"Me too... Anything else happening I should know about?"

"_Not so far."_

"Good." Both of them understood there would be little rest in the coming days. "How are things at the club?"

"_Busy. I can manage as long as Minaka doesn't spring any more surprises."_

"I'll try to give you advance warning." Emphasis on _try_ because she seldom got advance warning herself. "Hang in there."

* * *

><p>Dealing with Hanako's landlady took up most of her remaining free time. Nambu signed the paperwork using the surname Azuma and listed one Azuma Kaoru, ostensibly her stepmother, as a reference. A down payment made with MBI funds helped sweeten the alibi. Her ashikabi had just long enough afterwards to show Nambu around the apartment and set up her laptop before leaving again.<p>

Now Karen was alone with the new sekirei, and she did not like it.

She was Hanako's first, and senior in number as well, but Nambu had reacted to Hanako and she had not. Moreover, her shameful performance at the botanical gardens surely undermined her standing in her junior's eyes. As Nambu unloaded her rucksack and distributed the contents to their proper places, the archer steeled herself for conflict without weapons. She had promised to abide by Hanako's decision to take in another girl and she would do so, but her tuner's teachings were quite clear on the need for an ashikabi's first sekirei to permit no insubordination from the others. Asaka-sama would expect her to maintain discipline.

"All done," said Nambu, stretching her arms cheerfully. "What should we do now, Karen-nee?"

Karen stuck to her plan, and therefore to her comforting routine. "Hanako-sama provided a means of entertainment," she said, indicating the laptop on the living room table. "Let us make use of it."

"Okay." The short girl went to the shelves, lately reorganized to tidy up the gaps left by missing volumes. "What do you want to watch?"

Karen had already seen most of the films that looked appealing. "The first selection is yours," she hedged.

"Really? Thanks!" Bending down, Nambu ran a finger along one of the lower rows. "Ooh, this one!"

The DVD case she pulled out was unfamiliar to Karen. It was subtitled, at least, and the packaging advertised it as a cult classic. "Very well."

Nambu gleefully transferred the disc to the laptop's drive tray, closed it, and joined the other sekirei on the couch as playback started. The movie opened with a zero gravity striptease and only got stranger from there: what followed was an hour and a half of the most grotesque and incomprehensible artistry Karen had ever seen.

The brown girl took it all in raptly, though she seemed disappointed as the closing credits began to roll. "That's not fair," Nambu complained. "Barbarella did it with all those guys, but not with the Great Tyrant?"

"The Great Tyrant was her enemy." Karen was fairly certain she grasped that much of the plot.

"But she was so cool! And she _liked_ Barbarella!"

None of the characters in the story displayed anything resembling acceptable attitude or attire, and Karen felt no interest in debating their preferences. "That is unimportant," she retorted stiffly. "It is fiction."

The ponytailed sekirei got up to pick out another movie. Then Nambu hit her with a question she was utterly unprepared for. "What's Hana-nee like?"

"Like..?"

"You know, when you do it with her? Does she want to be on top or bottom?"

It took Karen a few moments to form a coherent reply. "We... do not have that kind of relationship."

"You're her sekirei," protested Nambu. "Doesn't she like you?"

"It does not matter."

"Of course it matters! An ashikabi's love is what sekirei need most!"

"That..." The archer stopped short. Hanako had not explained her circumstances during the earlier briefing, and it wasn't a subject Karen was eager to get into. She knew, however, that sooner or later the truth would have to be told. If she spoke now, she could at least tell it on her own terms. "Since I did not choose Hanako-sama, she has no such obligation towards me."

Nambu's expression changed from incredulity to concern. "Didn't choose?" she repeated. "Karen-nee, what are you saying?"

Finally it all came out: Karen's flight from Hikari and Hibiki, the desperate gambit, and the sudden impact which sealed her bond to Hanako. Nambu listened without interrupting and kept silent, staring at her knees in deep thought, for a minute more once it was over. At last she lifted her face. "...Do you like her?"

"It does not matter," the other sekirei recited woodenly. "As Hanako-sama's sekirei, is my duty to fight for her."

Nambu didn't challenge the mantra this time. "I like her," the slinger confided with modest pride. "I like her so much, I want her to have my babies."

The sheer absurdity of the notion pulled Karen out of her malaise. "You are speaking nonsense. Two females cannot conceive a child."

"Yes they can," said Nambu. "MBI has a patent on it."

Karen didn't anticipate such a swift rejoinder. "It... it is a sekirei's duty to bear her ashikabi's children," she fumbled. "In any case, you should not assume Hanako-sama has the same desire." She turned away, disengaging before Nambu could put her on the spot any more. "I will choose the next film now."

Should she tell Nambu their host already liked someone? It wasn't forbidden to speak of Kei, but that was Hanako's personal business... Better to wait, Karen decided. Hanako would share it when she was ready.

A new difficulty arose at the bookshelf: to find a movie that was dubbed or subtitled, had not already been watched, and was more wholesome than the last selection. As she scanned the rows, a title caught her eye and recalled something she'd heard at the gardens.

"_You were really smooth back there, Neesan. Where did you learn to do that?"_

"_De Niro in Ronin."_

There it was. _Ronin_, starring Robert De Niro and Jean Reno. Karen pulled out the case for a closer look. Rounin, masterless samurai, were common figures in Asaka-sama's TV dramas. This didn't look like that kind of story, judging by the flashy cars and men with guns on the cover. Still, if Hanako favored it then perhaps it was worth trying. "What do you think?" the archer queried.

"Looks fun," was Nambu's opinion. "Let's do it!"

* * *

><p>"Honey, I'm home." Hanako shook off her shoes and pushed them out of the way. "Everything okay here?"<p>

Karen closed the book she was reading. "Welcome home," she answered. "All is well."

Nambu got up from her seat at the dining table, setting a pair of headphones next to the laptop. "Welcome back, Hana-nee."

Passing the kitchenette, the ashikabi noted some dishes and utensils in the drying rack which hadn't been there before. Evidently her wards took her advice to finish off the leftovers. "Watch anything good?"

"We saw _Barbarella_ first. Karen-nee didn't like it."

"It's an acquired taste," Hanako admitted. "What else?"

"I chose _Ronin_," replied Karen.

"Yeah? What did you think?"

"It was... fast." Karen frowned. "But I do not understand, what was in the case?"

"What's in the case isn't important." Hanako dropped her bag at the bedroom door and headed for the bathroom. "The story just needs something for the characters to pursue," she continued, grabbing a spool of dental floss. "Money, diamonds, whatever. We call that a MacGuffin." Wrapping the filament's loose end around her finger, she drew out a suitable length and broke it off. "Tell you about it some other time. Right now I need to sleep."

* * *

><p>Hanako checked her email while Nambu and Karen brushed their teeth, the latter leading the way to the bedroom after they were done. The sleeping arrangements had not been clearly established beforehand, and she was unsure how they would divide up the two available futons. Karen assumed Nambu would not want to use the couch, which left a choice of both sekirei in her bed or one of them in Hanako's.<p>

The archer followed her master's evening habit, switching on the desk lamp between the beds and turning off the ceiling light. "The futon on the right is mine," she informed her companion. "I believe it is large enough for both of us if Hanako-sama wishes to be alone."

"Sure," said Nambu. "What do you wear at night?"

"I do not wear anything."

"Okay." The slinger began to peel off her clothes without more ado, exposing a lean and toned body. Karen undressed as well, letting down her ponytail just as Hanako entered.

The woman took her nighttime t-shirt from the closet and stood facing her own futon as she emptied her pockets. "You two okay with bunking together?" she asked, slipping out of her jeans. "At least for tonight?"

Karen knelt and turned down the covers on her bed. "We are."

Hanako discarded her pullover and bra, quickly covering her bare back with the potato-men shirt. At that moment Nambu spoke up. "Are you cold, Hana-nee?"

"Cold? No..."

"Then, are you embarrassed?"

"Uh... Not really, I guess." Hanako gave the sekirei a puzzled look. "Why?"

"I was hoping we could see our ashikabi." Nambu sounded unsure of herself. "It's okay if you don't want to," she added.

The room got very quiet. Karen watched and waited, not daring to move before an answer was given. At first Hanako simply stared at Nambu, blinking slowly, but then her eyes turned towards the archer. Karen wanted to say it was not necessary, or chastise Nambu for being frivolous, yet her lips could not form the words.

"...What the hell." Hanako stripped off her panties and tossed them aside, followed by the shirt. "There," she said flatly, letting her arms drop. "Sorry if it's not what you hoped for."

Nambu shook her head. "You're beautiful," the brown girl declared. "Isn't she, Karen-nee?"

"I..."

It had not escaped Karen's notice that many would find her master desirable, that Hanako had both a pretty face, albeit one often sullied by scowls and frowns, and a good figure. Her bust was large but not excessive, her waist trim, hips broad and legs long. Now witnessing her ashikabi fully, willingly nude for the first time, the kneeling sekirei could not stop her eyes racing to gather the remaining details.

She saw how soft the breasts were, and how they settled under their own weight. The nipples were dark and prominent, turned upward slightly, each pierced and fitted with a silver bar. Drifting further, she lingered briefly on the subtle contours around the deep, unadorned navel. The womanhood below was shaved clean, except for a narrow stripe above its cleft. Such a thing was totally new to Karen, and only with some difficulty did she move on to the thighs.

When she had finished, she could name just two flaws in the image before her. One was the piercings, a practice of which Asaka-sama most definitely did not approve. The other was a dimpled scar or blemish, about the width of a pencil eraser, just above the right areola. In spite of these faults, Karen would not disagree with Nambu. "I do think you are beautiful, Hanako-sama."

Hanako didn't take the compliments well. "Yeah," she muttered, looking away. "I get that a lot."

"I mean it." Nambu stepped forward, gently pressing herself against the tall woman's right side. "I'm really happy I found you."

"Eh..?" Hanako shivered as an arm snaked around the back of her waist. Karen had never seen her so befuddled. "Ah..."

"Actually..." Nambu drew closer, sliding her other hand over her chosen one's belly. "This is probably what I was born for." She cupped Hanako's left breast from underneath, stroking the nipple with her thumb.

"_Stop."_

The slinger let go, alarm and confusion on her face. "Hana-nee, what's wrong? Does it hurt?"

"I..." Hanako swallowed. "I can't deal with this right now. Just go to sleep." Hurriedly she climbed into her own bed and pulled up the blanket. "Lights off in ten."

Nambu looked utterly crushed as she obeyed the command, not even protesting when Karen claimed the side of the futon which faced Hanako's. The lamp went out and all was silent, save for the whisper of three young women breathing.

Sleep was the last thing Karen could think of after that scene. It kept replaying in her mind again and again, threatening to overwhelm a consciousness already flooded with alien emotions. They vexed her equally, the positive feeling she got when she saw her ashikabi's body uncovered and the negative as she watched Nambu lay hands on it. Surely she had no right to feel jealous of a sekirei who had been properly winged? Hadn't she herself said her relationship with Hanako was not like that?

Then why was her heart beating so fast?

* * *

><p>Hanako couldn't sleep either.<p>

She'd made a big mistake. Possibly more than one mistake, but stripping in front of the girls was definitely the whopper. What possessed her to think _that_ was a good idea? She was tired and stressed, and maybe she couldn't have predicted Nambu would get so touchy-feely, but that hardly excused her carelessness. It also did nothing to account for the bigger problem: she was very, _very_ aroused.

There was no denying it, not when the heat in her sex and the hardness of her nipples were unlike anything she'd experienced in ages. Three years was a long time to be alone, sure, and it had been difficult to take care of her needs with Miki around, but there was more to it. Being naked in front of her sekirei felt good, felt _right._ Being touched felt even better, and that was what scared her most. How far would it have gone if she hadn't come to her senses at that moment?

More importantly, what the hell was she supposed to do now?

The sekirei were very attractive, and mostly likable despite their flaws. One thought of her ashikabi as a husband, the other was already batting for a home run. The temptation to cross the line wasn't going to go away, nor would their own wants and needs. Hanako wondered how Minato dealt with this, if he was dealing with it at all. Perhaps Musubi and Matsu weren't so... forward?

She rolled onto her back, stifling an urge to rub between her legs. Couldn't do that here without being noticed, and the others would know if she went to the bathroom to do it. _Focus,_ she admonished herself. _Think about tomorrow._ Tomorrow she would have to lay down rules about acceptable conduct, work out better sleeping arrangements and –

A Prussian marching melody drowned out her thoughts. "I got it," she groaned, reaching blindly for her phone. "You forget the timezone again, Dad..?" Her voice trailed off when she saw the screen. It wasn't Doug Hanlon's name on the caller ID. "...Kei?"

"_It's me."_ The bartender sounded fatigued. _"I'm sorry to call so late, but I couldn't put it off any longer."_

"What's going on? Are you all right?"

"_Not really."_ There was a soft noise that might have been a self-deprecating laugh. _"I've been feeling unwell since midday. Chest tightness, a sort of ache... You winged another one, didn't you?"_


End file.
